


Antiquaire

by godtiermeme



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-29
Updated: 2015-04-14
Packaged: 2017-12-27 21:53:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 36
Words: 39,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/984044
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godtiermeme/pseuds/godtiermeme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren Jaeger, a nineteen-year-old college dropout looking for his first job, somehow manages to wind up working at an antique store owned by a man named Levi. Additionally, thanks to his eagerness to move out of his cramped childhood home, he's managed to wind up <i>living with</i> this enigmatic man in the two storey space above the shop. Of course, to Eren, it <i>seems</i> like a pretty good plan; but, unbeknownst to him, this new employment opportunity is going to end up impacting the rest of his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

On a cold but sunny October morning, I met a man named Levi for the first time. He was clad in a sweatshirt approximately five sizes too large for his small frame.His thin black brows were furrowed in a look of annoyance and his hooded eyes only furthered this illusion.

“I don’t have all fucking day,” was the first thing he said to me—the first words spoken to me in his distinctly authoritative but quiet voice. “Get in,” was the second. “Out,” was the third—uttered only after completing a one-and-a-half hour drive.

“Yes sir,” was the first thing I said to him, as I stumbled from his beaten-up 1997 Lincoln Town Car and stared at the stone façade of the rowhouse style building which happened to be nestled between a clothing store and a coffeehouse. “You don’t talk much, do you, sir?” My first passing remark.

“Hmph?” Levi frowned and raised a thin brow. He pulled his hands from where they were buried in his pockets and folded his arms across his chest. “What? Do you want me to be your source of entertainment or some shit like that?” he mumbled, kicking open the front door of his antique shop.

“I—What do you mean?” I responded confusedly, unsure of exactly what his question demanded of me.

He returned dismissively, with a wave of a pale, long-fingered hand. “Nothing. Forget about it.”

“Okay then?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged and held the door open for me as I entered. Once I was inside the stuffy little venue, he let the door slam shut. He then directed my gaze towards a woman wearing a pair of black rectangular glasses. “Hanji,” he explained tersely, “Is the refurbishing and researching expert in here. You’ll be working with her most of the time.”

“Okay?” I replied.

“Great.” Levi’s either overlooked or purposefully ignored my apparent hesitancy. He murmured something under his breath about getting a new name tag, though I didn’t really understand what he said.

I nodded, anyhow, and made my way down the uneven aisles.

“And I assume you’re Eren?” Hanji greeted me once I was in a reasonably close proximity to her. Unlike Levi, she welcomed me with a wide grin and a handshake. “Welcome to the shop. Let me just show you around—”

“We’re trying to get him to stay, Hanji,” Levi interjected flatly.

To me, it sounded like an insult; Hanji, however, took the commentary as a joke—at least, that’s what I assumed from her resultant laughter. “He didn’t flake off after meeting you, so I think he’ll be fine with me,” she pointed out.

“Hmph,” was Levi’s response. He then immersed himself in a book, the title of which was indecipherably worn away from its cracked leather spine.

“Anyhow—” the woman I was supposed to be following spoke up. She ran her fingers thoughtlessly through her reddish-brown hair and flashed another bright smile in my direction. As she took hold of my shoulder, I noted that she had a remarkably strong grip. “Let’s start with the tour.”

From here, she led me to the eastern side of the shop. She pointed at a fairly old-looking wooden stairway blocked off with a thick rope spanning from the wall against its leftmost side to the wall against its right. “Those lead up to the living quarters. There are two floors. The first one is the general living space and Levi’s room. The second is your room.”

She pointed a finger at an antique brass cash register resting on a mahogany-and-marble countertop. “That’s the vending area, obviously. Levi works there most of the time, but I sometimes wind up getting stuck there.” Once she had said this, she directed me towards the southern end of the building—to the back.

We passed through a rustic door and into the space comprising the entirety of the shop’s rear. A few small, single-pane windows were situated against the rearmost wall, though the light which came from them was filtered heavily by the strange blinds hung before them. The plain white planes—deemed to be walls—were bare. The only adornment was to the east, where family pictures and other memorabilia cluttered the surface to the extent that the white beneath was nearly invisible. Power tools and cabinets of seemingly every supply imaginable occupied a majority of the space.

“This is the work area,” Hanji explained. “Great for refurbishing and repurposing, don’t you think?”

“I guess so,” I replied honestly. I wasn’t blown away by the place, but it worked. “So… What are we doing?”

“Well,” Hanji sighed and folded her arms behind her head. “There’s nothing to do today. Levi closed shop early so no one’s coming in anytime soon. I only stayed here to show you around, so…” She offered me a cordial wave and another of her sparkling grins, “See you later, Eren.”

“Same to you, Hanji,” I murmured, watching as she departed via a nondescript white door on the southern wall.

 

* * *

 

After Hanji left, I wandered back into the main store. There, Levi greeted me once more. “Hello,” he had said, “Guess I’m supposed to show you where to take a shit and where not to.” Charming second introduction, I thought as I followed him up the old stairway from before…

At the top of the stairs, we ran into a dark brown panelled door. Levi unlocked it and led me into a room which smelled of a mix between old newspapers and tobacco smoke. He closed the door behind himself as he stepped inside. “The door locks from the outside automatically when you close it. Quite handy for when you’re drunk enough to think a potted plant is a urinal…” he shrugged and gestured towards the door beneath the staircase leading to the next floor. “If you need to piss or whatever, go there…” His finger moved towards the open kitchen. “Cook your shit there…” Again, his finger moved; this time, it settled upon the door on the eastern side of the main room. “I sleep there. Understood? Perfect.”

Without waiting for an answer, Levi pushed forward. He guided me to my room—on the second floor—and handed me my key. “You and I share a kitchen and a bathroom. If you’re drunk or puking profusely, just do it out the window over the back alley. No one goes there and I’d like to piss when I please in my own house. _Au revoir_ , don’t turn this place into a pigsty.”

With this said, he bowed slightly and departed. His boots clopped and creaked as he descended each stair. Then, he disappeared from view.

 

* * *

 

My room was fairly large when compared to my old room with Mikasa and Armin. It boasted a mixture of darkly coloured Baroque and Rococo furniture and a plush, king-sized bed. The windows were adorned with luxurious maroon curtains and the walls covered with a pleasantly faint but visually stunning grey floral print. A widescreen television (with cable) sat atop a finely polished black media centre at the foot of my new bed. To the east, through the bay window which faced the street, the sun filtered in like water through a coffee strainer.

“Nice,” I said to myself. “I could get used to this…”

I sighed and dropped onto the bed, where I somehow fell asleep minutes later, fully clothed.


	2. Chapter 2

My first day on the job began with Levi waking me up by quietly opening my bedroom door just so he could slam it shut. It started with a cup of lukewarm coffee and some slightly stale toast. It commenced with a simple, “Hello,” from my landlord and employer.

“Hey,” I had answered, still groggy after just waking up.

He, in return, sighed and sipped at his tea. He straightened his cravat and raised a thin brow. “Morning person?”

“What?” I countered.

“Morning person,” Levi mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose, “You’re not one of them.”

“Not really,” I shrugged.

“Hm…” With this, Levi rose to his feet. He wandered over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from its very specific spot in a certain, specific cabinet. From the freezer, he took precisely three ice cubes. He dropped these into the glass, filled it with water, and poured from a small tupperware container what appeared to be lemon juice. Then, with this odd concoction in hand, he returned to the table. He set it down in front of me and said simply, “Drink up.”

“I… Lemon tastes like piss,” I returned with as honest an answer as my sleep-addled mind could manage.

“All the better,” Levi responded, shoving the glass into my hand. “It’ll wake you up even faster, then. Bottoms up.”

I sighed and took a sip of the sour beverage. It tasted like piss—as I had expected—but it did the job. It woke me up. “Ugh.”

“Old family trick,” Levi sighed in unwarranted explanation, though I didn’t mind it much. “It works most of the time.” He shrugged and took from his pocket an old knife. Began to whittle away at a chunk of bar soap. Etched away at a rough image of an emblem which bore the effigy of two crossed, stylised wings.

“Hm,” I nodded. I didn’t feel much like talking, though I figured it was the least I could do. After all, this man was providing me with fairly cheap (if not, free) shelter and helping me pay for general necessities; the least I could do was reciprocate some sort of conversation when he attempted to initiate it. “So… Your family… Do they live around here?”

Levi frowned. A hint of sadness flashed briefly across his face, though its disappearance left no trace of its existence. “No…” (For some reason, I had the creeping suspicion that he was one of those secretive types—the kind of person that did their damndest to keep their personal lives and innermost feelings hidden.) “What about yours? You got any?” He shrugged off his own commentary and took another sip of tea.

“Oh,” was all I could manage at that point. “Not really… Mostly my friends, Armin and Mikasa…” I quietly admitted.

He, in return, shrugged once more. Another sip of his tea preceded his verbal response of, “Well, the shop will be closed today… Hanji has a family wedding to attend to and, besides that, there’s not much shit going on today. The place isn’t a goddamn proper business, anyhow, and it’s not like I have to follow a strict set of business hours.”

“Oh,” was, again, all I could say.

“So,” Levi continued despite my silence, “I’ll show you around town a little.” He tugged at the ruffled end of his cravat to tighten it a bit and nodded towards the staircase leading to my room. “Get dressed. I prepared some formal clothing for you, so you won’t look too much like a bum. They’re in your armoire.” He waved a pale hand in the air in a motion reminiscent of someone trying to shoo a vexatious fly.

I nodded and wandered back to my room. Inspecting the armoire as instructed, I found a set of five suits, all of which came complete with an accessorising tie or cravat. They seemed a bit beaten up; a few had small holes carefully patched with similar yet visibly different materials. Overall, though, and considering they were essentially free formalwear, they were fairly nice.

For the occasion, I chose a simple grey suit with a silver tie. I slipped into a pair of meticulously polished black loafers and returned to Levi.

“You still look like a tramp,” was his greeting to me. It was accompanied by a dismissive shrug. “I suppose I do, too, though. Whatever.” He pulled on a pair of white gloves which—when coupled with his ridiculous black capelet and pristine white cravat—perfected the alien, out-of-touch look of his attire. “C’mon,” he commanded as he led me out of the building via a back door entryway into the alley and into the adjacent coffeehouse.

“It’s not Starbucks or some fancy corporate shit,” he commented as we crossed over the threshold and into the cream-coloured space, “But they have nice coffee and decent food for a great price.” Here, he turned to me and, perhaps for the first time, he met my gaze. “I also know some of the people here. So… If you say you’re with me, you get a tiny discount.” An odd, forced grin briefly appeared on his pale face, and—in a slightly less awkward, but still fairly odd way—he winked. Then, he averted his gaze and gestured towards the smiling, strawberry blonde barista. “Over there is Petra. She’s worked here for… Hm… Pretty long time, I guess. If she’s here, always ask for her to brew your coffee. Unlike most brews, hers don’t taste like shit.”

I nodded, acting as if I took the advice to heart whilst simultaneously ignoring everything he said. I noted that the patrons of the coffeehouse were mostly upper class citizens.

“So… I guess that wraps up that part of the tour,” Levi’s voice interrupted my thoughts sooner than expected. His hand wrapped around my arm and he dragged me out of the café prior to motioning up and down the streets as he voiced explanations which I didn’t really bother listening to. Perhaps another twenty minutes passed in this manner.

“Okay, then,” was the next thing I heard from his mouth—the next thing I bothered paying attention to. “That’s it. Done. We’re done with this shit. Not like you listened to it, but whatever. Not my problem if you go off and end up sleeping in the wrong goddamn house or something like that. As if to emphasise his point, he shrugged. Then, with another tug on my suit sleeve, he led me back into the antique shop.


	3. Chapter 3

Around five in the morning, I found myself awake and unable to go back to sleep. I decided to wander downstairs, into the main living space, and see what there was to do. And so it was that, with this decision in mind, that I slid into my old bathrobe and hole-ridden slippers. That I crept down the stairs and emerged into a room which—considering that it was a typical, fairly cold fall morning—was surprisingly warm.

A quick glance revealed the reason behind this to be the lively fire which crackled away from its spot on the eastern wall. Another glance revealed that the room was still indecently clean, still the exact same as it had been before. But, something was different; on a barely perceptible level, it was messier. A cracked glass bottle—the label of which had been peeled off at some point in its lifetime—was set atop the fireplace mantle and situated behind an arrangement of dark red, wilting roses. The tiny, tattered family portrait which hung nearby was slightly askew. Some of the upward pointing fibres of the carpet were bent the wrong way.

No matter, honestly. There was nothing worth worrying about at that point.

I turned and prepared to settle down on the sofa.

“Hey…”

I let forth a yelp of shock. My gaze snapped towards the source of the words—Levi, clad in a long, black robe. “Fuck!” I breathed. “So… How are you…? When…?”

“I wake up early,” he shrugged and reached into his pocket. He pulled forth a finely polished oak pipe, stuffed some tobacco into its end, and lit it with a red-tipped match. Smoke predictably billowed forth and slightly clouded my view of his face. “Most mornings I do, at least. Takes a long time to do shit, take a shit, and eat some shit…”

His commentary drew the quietest of snickers from me. I might have smiled, too; I wasn’t too sure of anything I was doing at that point. Nothing seemed to be as it appeared or felt when he peered at me with those beady, hooded eyes; everything seemed different in a way I had never before experienced. Still, I managed to force myself to respond with a nod and a simple, “Okay.”

“So, then…” Levi sighed and glanced, disenthralled, at his pipe. He seemed to have been observing the way its smooth, wooden surface caught and reflected the light. “What are you doing up so early?”

“I couldn’t go to sleep,” I responded honestly.

He, in turn, nodded. His pale hands disappeared into the depths of his robe’s seemingly bottomless pockets and, in the dim light of the solitary lit lamp, I swore I saw him smile—saw the edges of his thin-lipped mouth turn slightly upwards. “Understandable,” was all he said. “It happens.” His thin brows furrowed ever so slightly and his lips parted to let forth a quiet sigh. “Petra always says that shit like that means that someone is dreaming about you. I don’t really buy that load of bullshit, but I guess it’s a nice, fanciful thought.”

“Mhm,” was all I said in reply.

At that point, I found that I was too dazed to think. That foreign feeling—the one which I had never before experienced—had taken over my mind. It was a calming feeling, though. It unlike the usual cynical disdain I tended to wade about in. But, at the same time, it was unnerving; perhaps, I reasoned, that was due to the strangeness of it.

“She says everyone has dreams every night, by the way,” he continued and I listened with moderate enthrallment. “I don’t know about that. I mean, do you remember your dreams every goddamn night? Because I sure as hell don’t.” He puffed away at his pipe for a moment before continuing. “I’m not boring you, am I? I mean, if I am, I guess that’s some tough shit…”

I frowned. It took a moment for me to realise he was speaking to me and another, additional moment to form my semi-coherent response, “I didn’t know you talked so much.”

“I would say to ask Erwin, but he moved out with that chick he ended up hooking up with. Good for him, though. It was about time that brainless oaf got himself laid. But, whatever. I talk a lot.” A smirk flashed briefly across Levi’s face in response to his own commentary, though it disappeared as rapidly as it had seemed to appear. His pale finger pointed towards a framed picture which rested atop the mantle, about three inches away from the cracked bottle.  “He’s the blond wise-ass right there.”

(The picture in question depicted a man, whose identity was undoubtedly Levi, accompanied by a taller, blond-haired man. The pair seemed to be engaged in a serious game of poker.)

I nodded and folded my arms. “So, he was friend of yours?” I responded, making a decent effort at continuing this fairly interesting (but not exactly enrapturing) exchange.

“He still is,” shrugged Levi. “He just doesn’t live with me any more. Imagine my shock, though, when he came home after meeting some woman at the club while he was drunk off his goddamned ass and said he was dating her, though. I mean… I was under the impression that he was gay for the past ten fucking years.”

The conversation began to spill slightly into the aforementioned “enrapturing” territory. My attentions became a bit more ensnared in the web of this man—this “Levi.”

“You’ve known him for that long?”

The response to my inquiry began with a curt snort of laughter. “Well, at this point, I’ve known the ass for eighteen goddamn years. We’re childhood friends, I guess you could say. He kept me from doing too much stupid shit and I kept him from getting beat up for his lunch money on a regular basis. He’s moved two towns away, now, but we keep in touch.” Here, he shrugged. “Whatever,” he added.

“Whatever?” I responded, a bit taken aback by the abrupt ending to our conversation. “What? Wait, why the hell did you think he was gay in the first place?”

“Nothing, No reason.” Levi countered with the briefest hint of a smirk—a sign that he probably knew what he was doing. “Eat up, wash up, take a shit, take a leak, and come down to the store. In that order.” He pulled a cloth from his robe’s pocket and shoved it into my hands. “In that order. We’re opening soon.” Having said this, he turned and wandered off. He disappeared behind the dark, wooden door which led to his room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guess who's back. hahaha. what am i doing with my life?

My second day of work was significantly different from my first. Like Levi had said I would, I spent most of my time in the back with Hanji.

Before we opened—while we did the cleaning and prepping—Hanji explained to me how the place operated. Levi allowed people to sell their antiques to him at the counter. Whenever he got something of any interest, he’d send it back to the room. There, she was supposed to make sure the item in question was authentic and estimate a price. If the object was found to need repairs, she’d also suggest how much the price should be marked down. Should the object in need of repair be successfully purchased, it would be sent back and stored in the area designated for broken items.

Hanji also explained a little bit about what she did. While she spent some time estimating prices and doing research on the junky old desktop in the corner, she noted that most of her time was spent restoring items. Most of the items were fixed in the shop. However, she also mentioned that some objects—those which required work which involved any odd chemicals or so on—would be either taken back to her house or shipped off to a specialty restoration service at the end of the working day.

My job, however, was much less exciting. I served as what Hanji called “the runner.” When new things came in, Levi would hand them off to me and I’d run them back to Hanji. She’d tell me the facts, and I’d regurgitate them when I returned to the front counter.

So, for most of the day, that’s all I did. I picked up trashy old garbage at the front, take it to Hanji, and listen to her either gush about it or talk shit about it. Then, I’d run it back to Levi and report the findings. I carried ugly little porcelain figures, dusty teapots, clocks, and a considerable amount of other assorted trash back and forth for what felt like forever.

As time passed, though, the number of people bringing things in began to decrease. By ten, all transactions had essentially ceased, and Levi wandered into the back room. He threw himself onto a faded wooden bench against the back wall. “Fucking boring, isn’t it? Working the shop around this time is like waiting for paint to dry,” he sighed.

I nodded, unsure of how exactly to respond. “I guess so.”

“Everyone is at work or too busy rushing everywhere to get their goddamn jobs done,” Levi elaborated, “No one’s got the time to stick their neck into some dingy old antique store.”

“I’ve been telling you we need to liven the place up, you know,” Hanji remarked from behind what I considered to be an excessively decorative chest.

“We’re not painting the goddamn store cherry pink,” Levi groaned.

“I _also_ suggested—”

“Not fucking baby blue either, Hanji. When you have your own store, you can paint it all the colors you want. Hell, for all I care, you can paint it all the shades of the goddamn rainbow.” Though his response was rough and forceful, I noted that there was an obvious hint of playfulness to the comeback.

“Hmph.” Hanji rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses up with the end of her paintbrush. “Whatever. You’ll agree on any color if you’re drunk enough, you know.”

“That’s why I don’t go with you to anywhere that serves alcohol,” snickered Levi. After this commentary, a short silence, relaxed silence filled the room. Of course, I emphasize the “short,” as Levi quickly broke the calm he’d initiated. “Hey, kid… Eren, right?”

“Hm?” I responded.

“You look bored out of you mind. Are you?” he queried.

“I guess I kind of am,” I shrugged.

Honestly, it wasn’t the most exciting time I’d ever had in my life, but I wasn’t too bored. At the very least, I hadn’t started carving my name into anything yet.

“Sorry.” Levi’s brow furrowed. He chewed on his lip for a moment and sighed, “I give up. Hanji, what the hell do kids like these days?”

“Well, definitely not anything that you like,” chortled his co-worker.

“Thanks for the help.” Another thoughtful sigh. For a few painfully awkward moments, Levi said nothing. Then, without any notice, he stood up and wandered over to one of the previously-restored bookshelves. He ran his fingers along the spine of each book of the first shelf. Then, he did the same on the second. About halfway through the third shelf, he stopped and carefully removed a beaten-up old book. He opened it up, flipped through a few pages, and, before closing it, nodded as if he was in agreement with whatever he’d just skimmed through. “I don’t know if you’re interested in this type of shit, but I’ve got some old books if you want to read. Or, I mean… Maybe you don’t like reading… You could just look at them. I don’t know. Whatever you want to do. Just don’t break anything. I worked pretty hard restoring all these, and you’ll be paying me for the supplies to fix them again if anything goes wrong.”

“I’m not really a book person,” I responded honestly.

“Oh…” He frowned. His brows furrowed again.

“I mean, I don’t really like reading. I like _looking_ at older books and things like that, I guess…” I backtracked. In all actuality, I could care less. On the other hand, I also figured that this guy was my current boss and I didn’t exactly want to piss him off. Not so much because I was afraid of him—I was a whole lot taller and, at least according to my estimates, more powerful than him—I just didn’t want to step on the wrong nerve.

“Mhm,” Levi nodded. Maybe he believed me. Maybe he didn’t. Either way, he seemed a bit skeptical to me and he was obviously out of ideas for ways to attempt to entertain me. “Well, sorry about that.” He shrugged and, shoving his hands into his pockets, wandered towards the door.

“Hey!” Hanji called after him, “Where’re you going? We’ve got a game of poker to play, don’t we?”

“We’ll play tomorrow,” Levi mumbled.

“Okay then…” whined Hanji.

“And to answer your first question,” Levi turned and shot Hanji an emotionally ambiguous look, “I’m going back to watch the counter.” He turned around once more, roamed back into the main room, and quietly shut the door as he left.

“Strange,” Hanji mumbled as the door clicked shut.

“What?” I asked.

“He usually stays back here until customers getting off from work start shuffling in around four…” Here, Hanji stopped, probably to mull over the possible reasons for the apparently odd behavior. After a few seconds, though, she shrugged it off. “He probably forgot to get his coffee this morning.”

“Maybe.” Like Hanji, I dismissed the odd behavior. From what I’d seen, Levi was naturally strange. Of course, I wasn’t exactly an expert on personalities. And, of course, I didn’t really care at that point.


	5. Chapter 5

Day three.

Monday.

The store was closed, as was usual, for organizing and taking stock.

I spent most of my morning moving objects to and from the basement storage room with Levi. Then, around noon, he offered to take me to lunch. I agreed.

We ended up walking down the street to a sort of hole-in-the-wall café called Thorntree.

“Great little place,” he explained as we walked there, “Really small. You need to watch yourself. It’s not exactly great to be the new person on the block and send someone’s fucking coffee flying, you know?” he paused for a moment before continuing, “A bit on the pricey side…”

“Then why don’t we go somewhere cheaper?” I interjected.

“I don’t know. Sentimental value, I guess.” He stopped, shrugged, and pressed the button beneath the crosswalk sign. “These buttons don’t really do anything, do they?”

“Why the hell would I know?” I grumbled. “Mikasa always says they don’t.”

“Who’s that? Your girlfriend or something?” Levi responded, his voice edged with a hint of a snicker.

“Ew. That’s gross. She’s my half-sister.”

“Different strokes for different folks, mon ami.” Again, he shrugged.

“Ew,” I reasserted.

At this point, he rolled his eyes and pulled out a cigarette. “Don’t get yourself all worked up about it, kid.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled.

Levi took another puff of his cigarette and glanced at the light. “We’re good,” he huffed as he grabbed the sleeve of my jacket and pulled me forward. To my surprise, though, he didn’t pull forcefully—it was more a gentle tug to grab my attention.

From there, we wandered about two and a half more blocks before arriving at our destination.

It was sandwiched between two large, fancy-looking restaurants. Unlike the hole-in-the-wall places I was used to seeing, though, its façade was well kept. Its white paint was smooth and clean, and its windows cleaned to the point that they were almost invisible. In fact, if it wasn’t for the reddish-pink mood lighting which diffracted through the windows, you’d think they weren’t even there. Inside was just as clean, if not a bit cleaner. The dark wooden tables were polished to a meticulous shine and free of so much as a single grease spot. Everything was in a very particular order.

“Unlike most places, this one actually gives a shit about hygiene,” Levi unnecessarily pointed out. “Anyways,” he sighed and pointed to a two-person window seat which faced out to the small garden behind the restaurant, “We’ll sit there.”

“Mhm,” I responded.

With the seating figured out, we both settled down. One of the waiters provided us with a menu and left us to our own devices. An uncomfortable silence settled between us.

I found myself unable to focus on the menu. My gaze was stuck in a circuitous motion which drifted upwards from the menu and to him. Whenever I felt that he was looking at me, I’d look back to the menu.

Eventually, though, he decided on his meal and, setting down his menu, sighed, “What’re you ordering, Eren?”

“Me?” I panicked for a moment. I’d spent more time looking at Levi than I had picking out my lunch. “I—” My gaze scanned the page erratically. After a moment, it settled on something—nothing in particular, though. “The BLT Club Sandwich.” Like I said, it wasn’t something I had specifically picked out. My gaze just happened to land on it, so I picked it.

“That’s what I usually get,” Levi shrugged. He grabbed my menu, stacked it atop his, and folded his arms. Seconds later, the waiter arrived. “Two BLT’s, one cup of tea, and a cold soda,” he enunciated. “Shouldn’t take too long, hm?”

“No, sir,” the waiter mumbled. “They’ll be out soon.”

“Great.” Levi handed the menus back to the departing member of the wait staff and, folding his hands behind his head, he turned his gaze towards me. “So, you don’t hate the job too much, do you?”

“Hm?” I replied. “I wasn’t really listening. Sorry.”

To my surprise, my response actually elicited a reaction from Levi. He snickered and rolled his eyes. “I guess this was a boring place to bring you. Sorry about that.”

“It is a bit boring in here,” I mumbled.

“Yeah,” Levi frowned. His brow furrowed for a brief moment before he replied, “I was asking you if you hated your job. It’s a pretty dull place to work, after all. Most of what I have comes from dead old people’s estate sales and whatnot. Pretty fucking depressing, I mean…” His eyes wandered away from me and ended up focusing on nothing in particular. “Anyhow…”

“No, I don’t hate the job. It’s kind of repetitive, but it’s nothing horrible.” My answer was about as honest as it could be. Like I’d said, there wasn’t anything I hated about the job. Hell, if I’d hated the job I would have just stopped working—plain and simple.

Levi nodded. A faint hint of a frown seemed to cross his features, and there was a moment of odd, fleeting silence. Then, sighing, he mused, “If you’d like, I could teach you a little more about how the place works. About all that old, dusty shit that comes through the door from time to time. I’ve been looking for someone to help up front on occasions and—” He paused and ran his fingers through his hair. “You don’t really have to. I was just wondering if you’d like to…”

“Sounds interesting,” I shrugged.

An odd grin flickered across Levi’s face. “Great.”

I nodded and looked up. From where I was sitting, I could see the doors to the kitchen over Levi’s shoulder. As I looked, I noticed a platter with two identical meals being brought out. “I think that’s us,” I mumbled.

“Hm?” Levi turned. He glanced at the platter briefly before turning back towards me, “Yeah. That’s us. They work fast here.”

“Two BLT Clubs,” the waiter interrupted, setting one plate in front of each of us. “Enjoy.”

“Thanks,” Levi muttered, immediately taking hold of his meal.

I, too, did the same—I ate without second thought, something that Mikasa often scolded me for. On the other hand, the guy across from me was legally allowed to have alcohol and he was doing the same thing. I figured it wasn’t such a crime under the given circumstances, Aside from that, I was damned hungry. So, the minutes immediately following the delivery of our meal were understandably sent in silence. Both Levi and I were busy eating, after all.

He finished a bit before me and, once I had cleared my plate, he asked, “Had enough?”

“Definitely,” I belched and started to reach for my wallet.

“Eh,” Levi pulled out a money clip and, after checking the receipt we’d received during our ravenous binge, pulled free some of its contents. “I’m paying for it. Keep the cash. There might be something else you’ll need it for.”

I nodded. I could feel my cheeks heating up, but I managed to force out a quiet, “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Another of his odd half-smiles momentarily showed itself. “You ready to go back?”

I nodded.

“Great.” He, too, nodded. “You pay on the way out here. Why don’t you—? How about you wait outside? I’ll be out after I pay.”

I agreed without second thought. At this point, there was an odd feeling in the pit of my stomach and I wasn’t exactly about to make my first impressions here by vomiting all over the place. With my hands shoved deep into my pockets, I rushed out.


	6. December 26, 1995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a sort of intermission chapter. The date refers to a specific date in Levi's past, which will be revealed fully over time. So, anyhow, this is purely Levi's point of view.

The shop shook with each rumble of thunder. Its windows seemed to tremble with each brilliant burst of lightning. Rain pounded against the walls and roof, creating a continuous low growl throughout the building.

“All residents are advised to—Indoors and close their shutters if any are present. Do not attempt to drive or opera—” A refurbished radio buzzed in and out of life, only to eventually turn to a continuous static hiss as a potted plant slammed against the side of the antique store.

All the while, a short and often verbally crude man by the name of Levi busied himself with cleaning his living space. He had already finished scrubbing the bathroom and was in the process of scraping out the inside of his stove when the power shut off.

“For the love of God,” he grumbled. He attempted to sit up, only to ram his head against the inner ceiling of the stove. “Shit.” Rubbing the back of his head, he slowly slid out. Then, he fumbled about in his pockets for a moment. He normally carried matches with him during this time of the year. After all, storms occurred often and there usually wasn’t much warning as to when one could knock out the power.

“Hmph.” He scratched a fresh match across the packet’s rough strip and sighed. He had a general dislike of flashlights, mostly due to the fact that he had a bad habit of keeping batteries far too long and finding out much later that they leaked all over some piece of fine antique furniture. Of course, he did consider that fire and old wooden artifacts didn’t exactly mix so, for that reason, he had exactly one flashlight in the entire building. It was hidden away in his bedroom’s nightstand alongside a pack of four triple-A batteries—enough for exactly two refills.

Another rumble of thunder shook the building.

Ignoring the raging storm, Levi wandered into his room. By the intermittent flashes of lightning, he managed to locate the flashlight and turn it on. Then, he put out the match. He sighed, stared at the smoking, formerly ignitable object.

More thunder. A vivid dazzle of lightning.

_In the subsequent darkness, the afterimage intermingled with the slowly pulsating glow of the failing flashlight. A semblance of a man’s face appeared—a man with deep-set eyes rimmed by shadows and rigid lines permanently wrinkled across his forehead. He—or, rather, it—sported a thick, full beard and a detached moustache. As Levi looked on, it seemed to turn towards him and snap, “What? What the hell do you want, you annoying little brat? Get out of my face and go bother someone else.”_

“Shit.” Levi closed his eyes and shook his head. He drew his thick, sky blue canvas curtains across the windows. The room plunged into even deeper darkness. The cone of light which shone from the flashlight in Levi’s hands was the only source of light.

Coming to the realization that he was still holding a smoking match, he rushed to the bathroom. After a brief moment of fumbling with the handle, he managed to create a steady trickle of cold water. He dunked the match into the water before throwing the dampened remains into his trash can. Then, he bent over and splashed some of the water onto his face. As he recomposed himself, another round of thunder prompted the next door neighbor’s dog to bark wildly.

The flashlight flickered once. Twice. Then, it died.

_A spectre of a man emerged from the shadows. His sharp, poignant jawline connected to even sharper cheekbones and faint stubble protruded his face like sharpened quills. “I saved you from the streets!” he spat._

“Fuck.” Levi fumbled about in his pocket. He caught hold of the batteries only for them to click together and bounce out of his grip. He closed his eyes. No effect.

_“I’ve kept your stupid ass from getting handed over to the police, you know. I’ve done a whole lot of hard work to make sure you and your deadbeat friends don’t get caught.” The man continued his tirade. His face contorted itself into a horrible grin as he let forth a drunken laugh._

By now, Levi had managed to pull the batteries from his pocket and cram them into the flashlight. He screwed it shut and flipped the switch. He aimed the light at the mirror in front of him and sighed as the vision was overpowered. “Yeah,” he muttered under his breath, “Well, fuck you, too, buddy.”

He nudged the bathroom door open once more and wandered back into his bedroom. From there, he meandered into the living room, and, from there, he made his way down the hall and out to the staircase. By now, anything was better than letting his mind wander backwards in time. By now, he knew that he had to occupy himself if he didn’t want to continue thinking about the past.

“Eren?” He pointed the flashlight up the stairs leading to Eren’s bedroom. “Eren?”

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Damned kid,” he grumbled as he made his way up the stairs and down the hall to Eren’s room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, now, back to your regularly scheduled Jaeger.

You know that feeling you get when something shitty happens at a really bad time? That sort of odd, sinking feeling that’s a mixture of annoyed anger and complete dismay? Well, as I stood naked in a completely dark shower stall, I had that feeling. “Fucking shit,” was how I described it aloud (and to no one in particular).

Now, I was used to having the power randomly shut off. In fact, back at Mikasa’s place, the power regularly went down. That was no real problem. I’d grab a flashlight and keep going. And that was where the problem was. I didn’t have a flashlight now. Hell, I didn’t even know where Levi kept flashlights.

Strike one. I began fumbling around in the dark until I hit a rusty handle. I let forth a sigh of relief and turned the knob.

Strike two. I went from taking a bath to having ice cold water spraying all over me. Once again, I searched, found a handle, and turned it.

The water shut off. Unfortunately, the handle came off with it. Strike three.

“Fuck this,” I grumbled, grabbing my towel.

After a half-assed attempt to dry myself off, I wandered into my bedroom, where I was promptly greeted by the sound of a first pounding on the door.

“Hey, kid. You dead in there or something?” inquired a voice with which I was rapidly getting accustomed to hearing.

“Shit.” I frantically crammed my hand into what I was supposed to be using as a laundry basket and pulled out whatever I could find. More specifically, I pulled out an old, ripped white tee shirt and a pair of worn out black jeans. I made another quick attempt to search and found myself some underwear. Then, I dressed faster than I ever had.

With no more than three minutes having passed since his initial knock by the time I opened the door.

“Cool. You’re not dead. At least, you’re not dead yet.” He shrugged and toyed about with the small LED flashlight he was holding.

Not exactly wanting to admit that I’d just stumbled from his now-broken guest shower naked but still thoroughly disoriented by the recent occurrences, I responded, “That’s pretty surprising, really.”

Levi, to my surprise, did something I’d never seen him do before. He laughed. He genuinely laughed. Now, to be completely honest, it was a strange laugh—a sort of cross between a strangled chuckle and a chortled snort—but it was a laugh. In the dim light, I could see him smile. He responded, but I didn’t hear it. I only registered that his lips had moved without me hearing the words.

“Hm?” I diverted my gaze.

Levi sighed. “Nothing. I just thought that was amusing.” By now, the smile had vanished, though he seemed strangely different than before. Maybe it was because I’d never seen him express anything more than mild amusement until then. Maybe not. Either way, he’d made me feel the same strange flicker in my stomach as he had before, in the restaurant.

“Mhm.” I nodded and folded my arms across my chest. I wanted him to leave, but, at the same time, I wanted him to stay. For one thing, I felt comfortable around him, which sounds ridiculously stupid considering I’d lived with him for less than a week at that point. But, honestly, I did. Yet, on the other hand, i didn’t exactly enjoy my stomach’s impromptu gymnastics routine.

And, maybe he picked up on all of that, because he quickly responded, “I just came up here to check on things. Nothing big.”

Again, I nodded.

“You need the flashlight?”

I looked towards him for a moment. Just long enough to mutter, “Not really.” Then, I pulled my phone from my pocket and turned on the flashlight app to demonstrate.

Levi replied with a casual shrug. “Just asking. I’ll be downstairs if you need me. No doubt Hanji’s left something that’s gotten jammed in the workshop drain. The place is probably flooded.” He rolled his eyes, offered me a curt parting nod, and wandered back down the hallway. As he left, I noted that he was whistling.

It was a vaguely… No, it was a remarkably familiar tune—one of those songs that you know you know but you can’t think of the name. It was slow, soul-crushingly sentimental. What was it?

“By the way, your room smells like shit. Clean up or wash your laundry. Really, Eren, you should probably do both.” With these words of knowledge, Levi shut the hallway door.

As the sound of his footsteps descending down the stairs echoed through the thin door and down the hallway, the name of the song struck me. My Heart Will Go On. Celine Dion. 1997.

I frowned, sat down on my bed, and closed my eyes.

If I was right, the song was from _Titanic_ , that stupid 1997 film that Armin and his ridiculous boyfriend, Jean, loved watching. Well, I used to comfort myself by saying it was mostly Jean who liked it so much. After all, I didn’t want to even think about how I could have ended up hanging around a guy who would actually like the movie. Of course, I’d never seen it. So, really, I didn’t know a thing about it except for everyone dies at the end and Armin always cried.

Still, all the off-topic babble aside, it wasn’t like it was some obscure independent film. I knew it was a major movie. I mean, for fuck’s sake, Armin tried to beg me into going with him to the theatrical three dimensional rerun two years ago. (I didn’t go. Instead, I ate bad cheese, puked for three days, and made Mikasa go with him.)

It wasn’t all that unlikely that he’d seen it before. At the very least, he’d heard the song. Still, he didn’t seem like the type to put up with something he didn’t like. And he definitely didn’t seem like the type who’d like romances…

“Hm.” At this point, I shrugged it off. I decided that I thought too much about the matter and resorted to knocking a bouncy ball coated in an odd, sticky surface against the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Headcanon Levi's care for human life and his friends also manifests as a general liking for romances.)  
> As per usual, this is not beta'ed, so please point out any errors or typos you see. Thanks for sticking with this story for so long! Comments and feedback are welcomed and appreciated.


	8. Chapter 8

Day five.

I knew that working for some odd little antique store in the poshest area of town wasn’t going to be a glorious job, but I didn’t think that it would mean scrubbing down an entire floor over a single puddle of water. Of course, that proved to be wrong, seeing as that was what I was doing.

In fact, I’d been scrubbing from the moment I finished breakfast. The power had come back on around midnight and Levi went down to thoroughly inspect downstairs. At midnight. And, then, he started yelling about the floor. At midnight. So, I was rather abruptly woken up—still at midnight—by said yelling.

That being said, it wasn’t like he forced me to do it. I mean, I could have always just walked out on him. But, I didn’t. For one thing, I was being paid. And, for another, I have to admit I kind of liked the guy. He was completely off the wall about some things but, honestly, Mikasa always said (and still says) that I was, too.

Maybe it balanced out?

I shrugged and took a detour from my thoughts long enough to look at the clock. 9:04. Hanji’s shift began at 9:15, so I assumed she’d arrive soon and continued scrubbing.

Not much to my surprise, she did exactly as I predicted. About two minutes later, I heard her making her usual loud entrance. I heard her heavy black boots plodding across the main showroom. The doorknob to the workshop squeaked open shortly afterwards, and she entered with what appeared to be a pet carrier under her arm. A wide grin was spread across her face.

“You know, Eren, Levi’s always been a neat freak. Good for some things, but mostly annoying,” Hanji shrugged. She casually pushed up her glasses and wandered towards me. “You’ve got two sponges in the bucket, right? Well… One in your hand and another in the bucket…”

I couldn’t help but smile in reply. I hadn’t worked with her much, but I already knew that Hanji was someone I enjoyed being around. “Yeah. Why?”

“He’s going to come in here having a fit in a few seconds, so,” Hanji dunked her hand into the bucket and pulled out a thoroughly drenched sponge. Rolling up her sleeves, she began to wring it out. “Just wait for it, Eren. Five… Four… Three…”

“No pets allowed!” The door slammed open and in stormed Levi. Like a child having a temper tantrum, he stomped across the room and towards the animal carrier. “None. I don’t care how fucking cute you think it is. I’m not your animal caretaker.”

Frowning, I turned to Hanji. “There’s not really anything in that thing, is there? It’s just a joke?” I mumbled to her.

“Hm,” she chuckled. “There’s a nice, fluffy, and very real thing inside that carrier, actually,” she hummed as she began to scrub the floor.

Levi, meanwhile, continued to be completely unamused. “You brought a fucking dog into my shop?” he sputtered.

“Mhm,” Hanji nodded. Then, whistling nothing in particular, she continued to scrub the floor.

“Do you just really like pissing him off?” I whispered to her, dunking my sponge into the bucket.

She responded with another of her usual grins and a nonchalant shrug. “Kind of. But, really, it’s about time something exciting happened around here.”

Thoroughly perplexed by this statement, I continued, “So you’re pissing him off because you’re bored?”

As much as I liked Hanji (or, at least as much I’d seen of her in the past few days), I couldn’t understand why anyone would piss off their superiors. After all, you’re not supposed to bite the hand that feeds you. Most people knew that, especially someone as smart as Hanji obviously was.

“You could say it that way. I prefer saying that I’m putting some life back into this dusty old place. It’s been like a retirement home for the past three months.”

Her cheerful response only added to my confusion, though I didn’t bother pressing any further. Instead, I continued to scrub the floor and laid low. Watching the conclusion of this was probably the best way to not get myself fired, after all.

Levi, having paced back and forth for the past two minutes or so, finally spoke up. “So, you’ve brought an actual dog into my shop? And what were you planning on doing with it? Because I certainly won’t keep it.”

“Actually,” Hanji interjected, “His name’s Bean.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me right now.” Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and let loose a long and obviously annoyed sigh. “You brought me a dog and its name is fucking _Bean_? What? Do you want it to hate itself for the rest of its life? It’s like parents who give their kids some sort of damned idiotic name. Like ‘Twinkle’ or ‘Sunshine.’ It’s setting up for failure.”

Hanji’s smirk grew wider. “So, you do care about it. Although, you do know dogs don’t speak English. So, really, he won’t give a damn about his name.”

“I know that,” Levi huffed, folding his arms.

“So, why not open it and see what’s in there?”

A look of skeptical revelation came across Levi’s face. His eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. “I swear to God, Hanji, if you’ve shoved one of those stupid battery-powered raccoon balls in there to freak me out. I will dunk your head in the toilet, make you clean the toilet, and then I’ll fire you.”

Whereas I’d assume most people would find that comment threatening (albeit childish), Hanji countered with a genuine laugh. “You? Firing me? You couldn’t do it, you bombastic softie.”

Levi sighed, rolled his eyes, and leaned over. He glanced into the box for a moment before picking it up and setting it atop the workshop table. Notably, though, he never responded the accusation. Instead, he proceeded to inspect the carrier as if nothing had been said. He carefully undid the latch and prodded open the metal cage door.

A single bark came from within.

Another sigh. Levi reached in and pulled out a small black and white puppy. I assumed it was a beagle, though I wasn’t exactly (and I’m still not) a certified dog expert, so it could have been damned near anything. Either way, Levi’s usual air of stubborn refusal rather quickly began to fade. “You know, Hanji, he is rather cute,” was the first hint that something was going on.

I glanced at Hanji. She winked at me, mumbling, “Enjoy the show, Eren, because this is probably the only time you’ll see this happen.”

I nodded and looked at Levi. By now, a faint smile was threatening to appear on his usually expressionless face. “Where the hell did you get a dog, anyhow, Hanji? Isn’t half your family allergic to them?”

Hanji chuckled. “Yeah. I went to the animal shelter over the weekend and found him there. But, sadly, I can’t keep him. ‘Cause, you know, allergies. So…” She was grinning. She knew what would happen.

I didn’t though. In fact, I was absolutely shocked at Levi’s response.

He began with an exaggerated sigh—the sort that you give people you know well when they annoy you—and set the puppy down on the table. “I hate you, Hanji. I fucking hate you. Go put a cactus up your ass or something.” He waved his hands in the air dismissively, though it sort of looked like he was trying to swat away a fly.

“So, you’re keeping him?”

Levi once again folded his arms across his chest and nodded slowly. “Yes. And I still hate you. I don’t know why I haven’t fired you yet. You’re a huge pain in the ass, you know.”

“You’re welcome.”

For a brief moment, I thought I saw a bemused smile. But, then again, I might not have. Either way, he picked up the puppy and took it with him to the front of the store. As he left, he commented, “Keep scrubbing, Hanji.” Then, he slammed the door shut.

Afterwards, I turned back to the thoroughly amused restoration expert. “He didn’t kill you?”

She laughed. “I’ve known Levi for eight years. I helped him start this place up. He wouldn’t lay a finger on me if it wasn’t to push me out of the way of a speeding bus.”

“But…”

“Eren,” Hanji’s gaze met mine. “Levi might seem like a stubborn hardass and he sure as hell is one. But, you get to know people really well over time. And, in the situation between me and Levi, we’ve had a chance to know a lot more about each other than most people know about themselves.”

“What?” I smirked. I began to work at clearing away some scuff marks from the smooth cement floor. “You two dated or something?”

With another of her distinct laughs, Hanji responded, “Oh hell no. I wouldn’t date him if you paid me to. Aside from that, he dated Erwin for the longest time. No, what happened between me and Levi is his story to tell. Not mine. I’m just saying that I know a lot about him, and one of those things is that he’s a sucker for animals. And that especially goes for dogs.”

“But he hates the neighbor’s dog,” I pointed out.

“Hm,” Hanji shrugged. “I’d hate that dog, too. As far as I know, it does nothing but bark obnoxiously.”

I nodded. I didn’t understand what she was hinting at, and I didn’t exactly get why Levi—who seemed to have his own set of strict rules—would break one for a dog. I mean, sure, it was cute. But it was still a dog?

I sighed and shook my head. I decided to focus on my job instead of thinking about the situation. My attentions turned towards a prominent splatter of dark red paint on the floor, and, after dunking the sponge into the bucket for a quick rinse, I began attempting to clear away the spot.


	9. Chapter 9

Day six.

I had worked with Levi for nearly a full week. Everything was admittedly dull overall, but it wasn’t exactly the worst job I’d ever had. (The real worst job would probably be the three months I worked at a rundown McDonald’s. Apparently, I was “too aggressive” with the customers, so they made me clean toilets and wash tables the entire time.)

Anyhow, this particular day began like any other. The only difference was that Levi was somewhat preoccupied with Bean. Otherwise, everything went quite smoothly. Breakfast was on time, the store opened as scheduled, and Hanji arrived soon after opening.

I stayed out of most of the conversation. The two spent most of their time taking about dogs and bantering. Not the most exciting discussion, really. Aside from that, I had no reason to be in it—Levi had sent me to work the front for the day while he got dog care advice from Hanji (who apparently used to date someone who bred beagles).

So, anyhow, it was a pretty boring day. At about 1:00PM, though, Levi emerged from the workshop. With a long sigh, he strode towards the rolling chair behind the counter and sat down. “Anyone come into the store, Eren?”

I shook my head.

“Figures.” As he spoke, I glanced downwards at Bean, who just so happened to be pulling at Levi’s pants leg. “We’re not usually busy during the week.” With an exaggerated yawn, he stretched and folded his hands behind his head. As he did this, the bell which indicated someone entering the store rang. Both Levi and I looked up.

A man with short grey hair and golden-brown eyes which seemed to be perpetually narrowed in suspicion entered.

“Shit.”

I looked towards Levi, surprised by the commentary. “What?” I muttered.

Levi shook his head and quickly stood up. “Don’t say a thing to him.” He leaned over, grabbed Bean, and rushed into the workshop.

Meanwhile, the odd newcomer picked up a rather fragile and recently restored nineteenth century vase. He flipped it about in his hands a few times, seeming to study the floral designs. Then, without any further commentary, he dropped it. With a resounding crash, the piece—which I knew to be worth at least $200—shattered. And, in response, the man looked at me. He shrugged. “It slipped,” he commented, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“You do know you have to pay for that, right?” I spoke up. I wasn’t going to let some asshole come in and act like a huge asshole for no reason. And I wasn’t going to get my paycheck cut in half because some asshole broke a vase.

The man returned with an indifferent sigh. “I don’t have to do anything, actually.”

“Yeah, well you didn’t have to walk into this store sucking a fucking lemon and acting like a douchebag, either. But you did. So, now you have to pay for it. You break it, you buy it.” I responded, growing increasingly irritated.

“Yeah?” The man smirked and pulled out a pocket pistol. His smirk widened. He seemed to shoot haphazardly. Or, perhaps, he meant to miss, because it bounced off of a nearby shelf. I reacted immediately. I lunged over the desk, knocking the monitor to the floor in the process. As it crashed to the floor, however, there was a blur of motion. A loud thud.

I frowned and looked towards the noise. The man was pinned to the floor by Hanji. “What the—?”

“Call the cops,” she shouted.

I nodded and staggered towards the desk. I fumbled with the phone, pulled it free of its base unit, and dialled as quickly as I could. In the meantime, the downed man must have managed to wrestle free of Hanji, as there was a loud crash. When I looked, Hanji was atop a broken table. The door slammed shut.

“Who the fuck was he?” I mumbled.

“I don’t know,” Hanji responded, dusting herself off as she stood back up. “You’re still calling the police?”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll do it,” she walked up to me and took the phone. Then, she motioned for me to go into the back room.

I obeyed and left, wandering into the workshop. There, I found Levi tucked away in the corner beneath the staircase. He looked at me with a distinctly furrowed and asked, “You okay, Eren?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Your computer monitor might not be, though…” I rubbed the back of my neck and diverted my gaze.

“That’s not important,” Levi retorted pointedly. For a brief moment, his gaze met mine.

My breath was suddenly caught in my throat.

He continued, “As long as you’re fine, I’ll just take one of the old monitors out. I keep them stocked in the upstairs closet. Just in case, you know.”

I nodded. I’d never seen him so jumpy before. And I certainly hadn’t seen him this—well… I’d never seen him so worried before. Not that he seemed traditionally worried. I mean, he just had this sort of tone. An air about him. (Armin could probably describe it better, really.)

“Good,” he sighed and lowered his gaze once more.

“Who was that guy, anyhow? You ran like hell when he came in,” I inquired offhandedly. I didn’t really care about the details. I just wanted an answer. I wanted a name to match the bastard’s face.

“Boris Feulner,” he spat, folding his arms across his chest with a rather pointed air of disgust. “I know him from some time ago. A huge asshole. That’s what he is. He’s a massive fucking dick.”

“Well,” I mumbled. I certainly didn’t expect so much animosity, but it wasn’t exactly surprising to me. Even now, it’s not much of a surprise. Levi was always someone who cared for people, but he couldn’t give two flying shits about anyone on his bad side.

I shrugged. I had an answer, and that’s what I needed.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day was remarkably boring, though that was probably because of the excitement which had occurred. Either way, the shop closed up as usual and everything was cleaned up before dinner. The then-useless vase had to be thrown out, but the table Hanji had landed on was salvageable. In fact, when I went downstairs at around 8:00PM to check the fridge, I found Levi sitting cross-legged in front of the dismembered piece of furniture.

He turned, probably having heard my entrance, and raised his left brow. “Hm?” he stated simply.

“You have any food down here?”

He nodded and wandered to the kitchen to his left. Seconds later, he emerged with a plastic container of lunch meat. Black forest ham, if the label was correct. “That’s all I’ve got. Sorry about that.” He dropped the container into my hands and walked past me. He returned to the table and sighed. “Sorry about today.”

I frowned, thoroughly chewed the three slices of ham that I’d just shoved into my mouth, and responded, “Sorry about breaking your monitor.”

Levi rolled his eyes. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his tan trousers and breathed a quiet sigh. “It’s not the monitor I’m worried about,” he grumbled, leaning his back against left hand hallway wall. “It’s you. And Hanji, of course.” He shook his head as if to clear his mind and slapped his hand against his forehead before continuing, “I mean, I’m responsible for you. If you die, it’s on my head. And I’d rather not have any more dead people on my record.”

“Any more?” I frowned, slightly concerned by this statement.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to say that. Slip of the tongue. I meant any dead people. Sorry.” He threw his head back, banging it hard against the wall. “Anyhow, I’m just tired. Probably saying shit that doesn’t matter at all. Enjoy the ham and remember it’s only for external use.” With that said, he dismissed me. He waved his hand in the air and I, too confused to continue, simply departed from the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Kiss kiss OH SHIT HE GOT A GUN.)  
> UPDATE: Re-edit. I said Dennis instead of Boris. Please excuse the mistake. Whoops.


	10. December 26, 1995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Levi intermission. They will probably happen from time to time, though I'm trying to not spread them too thin or put them in too often. Either way, it's a sort of miniature chapter. Also, canon Dennis probably isn't this much of an asshole but, hey, whatever. Gotta' get the plot rolling somehow. Sorry, Dennis.
> 
>  
> 
> Also: **CONTENT WARNING for blood, violence, and child abuse/cruelty. This is the chapter that prompted me to add the "Graphic descriptions of violence" tag.**

_“Wake up! Wake up!”_

_Levi opened his eyes. Around him was his usual room. Above him was the face of Erd Jinn. He was older than he remembered. In fact, he had grown a small beard on his lower chin. His golden-blonde hair, which was usually held up in a ponytail, was undone. A majority of it fell into his face. He was smiling. Though it was a sort of calm smile, it was also muted, and it bore traces of sadness at the edges._

_“Jinn?” Levi inquired, his eyes widening. He sat up, rubbing the back of his head, and frowned. “What are you doing here?”_

_The surroundings melted away. The wallpaper turned to a floral pattern of olive and forest green. It began to peel away. An off-white scalloped chair molding appeared on the walls. The door seemed to turn to wax. It dripped away, its tendrils reforming the passageway into the shape of a plain archway. The ceiling began to sag. Deeper, deeper. In a particular spot by the archway it caved in. A support beam fell a bit. It dangled precariously about six feet above the dark wood floor._

_Erd disappeared, only to reappear in the corner of the room. He was propped up by knives embedded in the shoulders of his shirt and held down by thick, coarse ropes around his ankles and wrists. Erstwhile, the same man from before—the man with a sharp jawline and stubble—Dennis Eibringer, stood in the archway. He tossed a bloodied knife back and forth between his pale, bony hands._

_At his feet lay another familiar face—the face of Kitts Woerman. His beard was soaked in blood, and only the bloodshot whites of his deep-set eyes were visible._

_Assuming that Kitts was as dead as he looked, Levi cautiously approached him. As he neared, however, the man let forth a blood-curling scream. Looking tp his left, Levi noticed Dennis kneeling only inches away, his knife buried deep in Woerman’s chest._

_Shocked, Levi stumbled backwards. As he did this, he ran into the wall. He turned to see a ten-year-old Erd Jinn slouched in the corner with Eibringer standing above him._

_“Where are they?” inquired Eibringer, smiling to reveal a set of yellowed teeth. “You know where they are, kid. Why don’t you tell me?” He traced Erd’s jawline with the tip of his knife. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a stainless steel flask. Tipping both it and his head back, he took a large gulp of what Levi knew to be Everclear._

_Erd, meanwhile, played with the knots in his restraints._

_Eibringer responded by kicking him. “WHERE ARE THEY?” he thundered, swaying as he stood up._

_“I told you I don’t know,” Erd mumbled._

_“Then you’re useless to me.” Eibringer smirked, continuing, “You were always useless to me.” He readied his knife._

Levi jolted awake and found himself still sitting against the wall. The broken table was still laid out in front of him, each piece still resting in accordance with their position. He sighed and brought his hands up to rub his eyes, only to find that his fingernails had dug into the skin of his palms. Dried blood rimmed the wounds and a faint, stinging pain shot through his hands as he flexed them.

“Fuck,” he mumbled.

“Fuck,” he repeated as he stumbled to his feet.

“FUCK!” he yelled in frustration, slamming his foot against the wall.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, only to find it coarse and sticky from sweat. Lowering his hand, he stared at the scabs on his palm. “Why now?” he muttered as he opened the door to his bathroom. “Why not before now?” he continued, stepping inside. “Why fucking ever,” he sighed as he grabbed some gauze and wrapped it around his hands.

He sighed again and buried his face in his hands.

As he did this, Bean approached. He nudged Levi’s leg and wagged his tail.

Levi, erstwhile, glanced briefly at the young dog. He felt a short-lived sense of happiness, only for it to rapidly dissipate as he began to think.

He couldn’t have this happen now. Not after he’d built himself a business from the ground up. It just couldn’t happen. He wasn’t going back there.

He closed his eyes and, to his surprise, an image of Eren took shape. Even more surprising was that it calmed him. He shook his head.

No! There was too much of a gap. Too many years between him and Eren. He was twenty-eight. Eren was, what, nineteen? Aside from that, Eren was only just starting to find his place in the world. He couldn’t take him away from all that just because of his own gross thoughts. He wouldn’t.

If anything, Eren was just someone he considered a close acquaintance. Eren was someone who, like Hanji, made him feel like he had a purpose. He wasn’t some sort of romantic object.

Levi sighed and closed his eyes again as he sat down on his bed and pressed his thumbs against his temples.

Why now?


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, hey, before reading this, I based this chapter on a headcanon of mine. And that headcanon is that Levi is actually a huge fucking dork when he's around people he's comfortable with. I'm pretty sure some people won't be in agreement with me, and that's fine. I just wanted to give a heads up as to why Levi is acting in a manner that _could_ be considered out of character (depending on how you look at it). Headcanons abound. Someone stop me.

Day seven.

A whole week of working for Levi. Also, a Thursday.

Levi woke me around 5:00AM to tell me that he’d decided to keep the store closed for the day. When he’d come in to tell me this, I’d noted that he had dark shadows beneath his eyes. However, I was too tired to register much else. I agreed and fell back to sleep, only to wake up four hours later to the sound of my phone ringing. I frowned, rolled over, and stared at the caller ID. I let my vision adjust to the light and, a few seconds later, read the name.

Mikasa.

I sighed and picked up the phone.

“Yeah. Hello. What?” I grumbled, still partially asleep.

“You haven’t called me all week. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Everything’s fine.” I dismissed her commentary, put the phone on speaker, and threw it onto my bed. Then, I started getting dressed.

“Really? Because the newspaper says otherwise,” Mikasa didn’t even try to hide her annoyance. “If Levi’s going to hide in the back while someone fires a gun at you, then you’re going to be coming home pretty quick.”

“It’s fine!” I insisted. “It’s fucking fine! It was one little incident.”

An audible sigh of frustration. “You’re an idiot, Eren Jaeger.”

“Yeah? And you’re not my mom, Mikasa Ackerman!” I spat as I abruptly cut off the call.

 

* * *

 

Around lunchtime, I found myself sitting alone in the café down the way. I found myself absentmindedly stirring my coffee and thinking. (Which wasn’t something I normally did then. In fact, I was slightly confused as to why I was dwelling on my thoughts at that time, anyhow.)

First of all, I was thinking about my job.

It was boring as hell, yes, but at least I had good co-workers. Aside from that, my boss was great. I mean, Levi wasn’t the most sociable person ever, but his odd commentary was undeniably amusing.

And that led me to my second line of though. That of who exactly Levi was. He was my employer and landlord, for one thing. But, for another, he was oddly charming. Not exactly in the traditional sense. More in a sort of sense that he was so off the beaten path that it was rather endearing. He was intriguing, too. There were definitely things I didn’t know about him and he definitely kept a lot to himself. Still…

“You’re chewing on your thumb, you know.” My thoughts were interrupted abruptly and I looked up. Petra, the girl I had been introduced to earlier, stood over me, frowning. She carried a tray of steaming hot coffee and had her hair pinned back. “That can’t be comfortable.”

“I am?” I frowned and looked down to find a raw spot on my thumb. I felt myself blush a bit as I realized I’d fallen back on an old bad habit. “Oh… I was…”

Pera nodded. With a wide smile, she continued, “I’ll be right back. Let me finish dropping off these orders.” With that said, she quickly departed. I didn’t have much time to think before she returned, though, as she was back at my table less than two minutes later.

“So…” She sat down and flashed another brilliant smile in my direction. “Boy problems?”

“I— What—?” I sputtered.

Petra laughed. “When you hang out with Levi as long as I have, you learn how to spot those things pretty easily.” She shrugged and glanced at my still-swirling coffee. “Your drink’s going cold, by the way.”

“Hm,” I sighed. “I actually don’t like coffee that much.”

“Really?” Petra folded her hands atop the table and looked back at me. Her gaze met mine. “So, I’ll ask again. Boy problems?”

I chewed my lip for a moment. I didn’t really have that much to lose, really. So, why not go for it? “Yeah,” I responded.

“If it’s about Levi,” she smirked and leaned in to whisper in my ear, “You do know he’s gay, right?”

I shook my head as she sat back. “No. I didn’t.” I lowered my voice considerably. I never was a good whisperer, though, so I’m not so sure no one else heard anything. “I did knew he dated Erwin for a while, though.”

Petra snickered. “Yeah, he was on-off with Erwin for a while.”

“And he turned out to be straight?”

“Yup.” Petra shrugged again and casual slid my coffee towards her. She picked it up and started sipping at it. “No need to let it go to waste, eh?” she commented.

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. That’s true.”

“So. Who’s the guy?”

I frowned and glanced at the table. I was in this far. I’d gotten myself stuck. There was no point in leaving now. “It’s Levi.”

Petra’s smile grew wider. “I had a feeling. That’s not surprising. He’s pretty cute, after all.”

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“Well, I do know a few things about Levi. And one of those things is that he’s got a lot of personal history that never gets shown to anyone. Also, he really does care about people. He just doesn’t really know how to show it.” Winking, Petra chugged the rest of my coffee and rose to her feet. “Just go for it. You’ll know if he likes you or not pretty fast.”

“Go for it?” I sputtered in confusion.

“Yeah.” Reaching into her apron pocket, Petra pulled out her writing pad. She scribbled something upon it, ripped the page out, and set it down in front of me. Then, with another wink, she departed, saying, “Good luck, Eren. Levi could really use some company.”

I nodded, still a bit dazed by the sudden turn of events, and looked down at the paper. Written upon it was a list of movies. Each movie was numbered in the order, from one to five.

 

  1.  _Titanic_
  2. _The Princess Bride_
  3. _Romeo and Juliet (that modern one with DiCaprio, not the classical one)_
  4. _Lady and the Tramp (yes, that Disney movie)_
  5. _The English Patient_



 

Furrowing my brows, I stared at the list for a few minutes longer. It was as if I was looking for some sort of hidden message. But, I never found it. In fact, a few minutes later, I shoved the list into my pocket and wandered out of the café.

As I meandered down the sidewalk, heading eastward to nowhere in particular, I pulled out my phone. Opening Siri, I half-yelled, “Where is the nearest Redbox?”

The phone responded, though the volume was down far too low for me to hear it. So, I relied on the Google map which was displayed for me. The distance was listed at 0.5 miles. Not that far. Aside from that, Armin did say I needed to exercise more. I shrugged, shoved my hands into my pockets, and set off for the highlighted location.

When I arrived, I pulled out my tattered wallet and produced from it my last five dollars. I shoved the bill into the machine and scanned through the movies. Only three of the movies were actually available: _Titanic, The Princess Bride,_ and _The English Patient_. I sighed.

I never really liked romance movies. I always thought they were pointless and sappy. Still… I closed my eyes to think and somehow remembered Armin commenting that I would probably like _Princess Bride_. So, I picked that. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to watch a boat sink for three hours, after all. And I had no idea what _The English Patient_ was about. From the title, it sounded pretty boring, anyhow.

The machine whirred to life. Seconds later, it dispensed the movie. I took it, shoved it into my pocket, and began wandering back to the store.

 

* * *

 

“Levi!” I called out as I re-entered the store. “Levi?”

I wandered to the back and up the stairs to the second floor, where I entered the main living space.

Where was he?

I went down the hallway which, on the left, connected to the kitchen. I passed through the main living room, setting the movie down on the coffee table as I passed, and stepped up to Levi’s bedroom door. I took a deep breath and prepared to knock.

What was I doing?

Another sigh. I ran my fingers through my hair. I started to back away, only to approach once more.

Mikasa wouldn’t approve of this, probably. After all, he was nine years older than me. Almost a decade. Almost. Not quite, though…

No! Mikasa didn’t dictate my life. It was _my_ life. Not hers!

I took a final deep breath and gave the door a few firm knocks before stepping back.

The door swung open shortly afterwards, and Levi stepped out. His eyes were bloodshot, the palms of his hands wrapped in bandages, and his hair disheveled. Still, he managed a quiet quip, “You finally got back. What’ve you been doing? Trying to break into a strip club?”

I responded by redirecting my gaze to the ground. I could feel my cheeks heating up. I tried to stop the rising blush, though I knew it was pointless. “You feel okay?” (That was something people asked each other, right?)

“I’ve felt better.” Levi shrugged. “Kind of feel like I just ate a pile of rotting shit, but I’m fine otherwise. Why?” His eyes narrowed a bit.

“I—” I faded into silence for a moment. After a some brief mental reassurance, however, I continued, “I just wanted to know. I mean, you look tired. I guess…”

A faint smile flickered across his face. “Hm. I’m not all that good at reading people, really… Hell, I don’t know a damned thing about people. But it seems like you’ve got something you want to ask me. And if it’s a raise, the answer’s no.”

I smiled nervously and nodded. “No, it wasn’t about that. I was just wondering if you… Maybe…” I closed my eyes for a second and reassured myself. “I went past a Redbox while I was walking around town and I…” I quickly backed up, snatched up the movie, and reapproached. Handing the disk to :Levi, I continued, “I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie… Maybe?”

Levi frowned and glanced downwards. “ _Princess Bride_ , huh?” He glanced back at me. I avoided his gaze as he responded, “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

A sense of relief flooded over me. I couldn’t help but grin. “Great.”

“I’ll go set up the movie.” For a brief moment, I though I saw him smile at me as he passed.

 

* * *

 

“The Princess Bride, by S. Morgenstern,” the movie had been on for at least seven minutes. We were seated on a thin but comfortable two-seater which faced the television above the fireplace. Levi seemed absolutely riveted to the story. Bean sat on his lap.

I, meanwhile, was bored out of my mind. Hell, the job I had was boring, but this? This was boring beyond belief. What was it even about? Oh. Well, apparently, the film just said it was about some girl whose parents hated her enough to name her “Buttercup.” I sighed and propped my chin on my hand.

Levi responded by nudging my shoulder. “Kids are so damned picky about movies these days. Damn. Just lighten up and watch!” He winked, though the straight look on his face made it seem more like he was trying to blink something out of his eye.

I tried to take the advice. I really did. But, it was boring as hell. I just couldn’t get into it. Then, I caught a glimpse of a curly-haired mustached man on the screen. And, for some reason, I was suddenly captivated. Who was he? What was he doing? Why couldn’t I swordfight like that?

For all the shit I talked about romance movies, I couldn’t help but find myself caught up in the odd story. Hell, Levi was even more into it than me. And, to my surprise, he started to show a side of him I’d only ever seen hints of—the side of him that was a huge fucking dork.

A prime example happened to be when he carefully set aside Bean before standing up and posing as if he was fencing. As he did this, he quoted the film. He lunged as if fighting and mimed the movements perfectly. Then, as the fight came to a close, he sighed and sat down, running his fingers through his hair.

The sudden outburst prompted me to lean in close and whisper in his ear, “You’re a dork, you know.”

He responded with the first ever obvious show of emotion I’d ever seen from him. A wide smirk spread across his face as he folded his arms and winked once more. This time, it looked like a real wink. “I bet there’s something you’re a dork over, too, kid.”

I rolled my eyes and looked away. I could feel myself blushing. “No… No, there’s really not.”

Levi shrugged. The show of emotion proved short lived, as he returned to his usual expression of seeming disinterest. “Hm. I doubt that.” Despite the straight face, there was a distinctly skeptical tone, though I only recognize it as I look back. I failed to pick up on it then.

By the time the movie was over, I had seen more of Levi than I’d ever thought I’d see. Not physically. (No, that wasn’t for this time. It would happen, but not now.) Rather, I’d seen so much personality. I’d seen so much life hidden beneath the shell. He revealed a side of himself that was always there, but never quite as prevalent as it had been that night. He showed the child inside of him—the kid who, for some reason, never got to grow up. There was a spark of childish energy inside of him, and it shone through that day like the sun. And it was pretty fucking attractive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hella long and, as usual, it's not beta'ed. If you see typos or whatever, please comment! Otherwise, feel free to comment with a review or just general thoughts! I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because I sure enjoyed writing it. Also, to credit the film...
> 
> _The Princess Bride_. Dir. Rob Reiner. Prod. Rob Reiner and Andrew Schienman. Screenplay by William Goldman. Perf. Cary Elwes and Robin Wright. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 1987. DVD.
> 
> PLEASE DON'T SUE ME, TWENTIETH CENTURY.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now that we've gotten through the first week, I'm going to start jumping around a little. This is just a minor heads up.

Ten days of working with Levi.

Three days ago, Levi agreed to watch The Princess Bride with me. And, to my surprise, I liked it. And, even more importantly, I liked him. No, as I realized it then, I loved him. As odd as it was, I truly loved him. And maybe it was lust. Maybe it was damned horny overreaction. But, I felt that I loved him. And I still feel that I loved him.

He was fascinating. He was like no one else I had ever known. And, from the fact that he and I worked together nearly all the time following the movie, he at least liked me. And I liked to tell myself that it was more than that—that he loved me.

 

* * *

 

_To Eren,_   
_I’ve gone out. Some asshole says he has an antique toilet and he’s been bugging me to come look at it for three weeks. THREE FUCKING WEEKS. It’s gotten unbearably annoying, so I’m going to go visit the bastard. It’s at least one and a half hours away, so I won’t be back for a little. Food’s where it always is and all that shit. Enjoy, I guess? See you later._   
_Levi_

I sighed and set the note back down on the counter. By now, I’d spent about two and a half hours essentially lounging on the two-seater and flipping through television channels like Armin’s mindless asshole boyfriend, Jean Kirchstein. At the time, that British chef with a penchant for loud cursing was on. He was berating someone’s restaurant for having spoiled food in the fridge. And, at that time, I decided I had grown remarkably bored with searching for something worthwhile on television.

I briefly considered visiting Mikasa or Armin, but it quickly dawned upon me that I had to take care of Bean. Aside from that, Mikasa had work on Sunday. Armin and Jean volunteered at some smelly old folks home to call out BINGO numbers. (I never did understand how they thought that was fun, but they really got a kick out of it.)

So, I turned off the television and started wandering around. Bean followed close behind me, though I didn’t really pay much mind to him. (As much as I liked dogs, I wasn’t exactly one who particularly enjoyed playing with them. Especially puppies.)

Somehow, I managed to meander into the kitchen. While I was there, I opened the fridge and snagged a fistful of that black forest ham. Then, I wandered back into the living room.

“There is nothing to do here, is there?” I moaned.

Bean whimpered, barked quietly, and wagged his tail.

I responded by quickly patting his head before scooping him up and going to my room. There was no real point in leaving the dog behind, after all. Besides, I’d be the one cleaning up its piss if it had an accident.

As I closed the door, however, the familiar ping of an incoming Skype call caught my attention. Setting Bean down by the bed, I wandered over to the end table I kept my laptop on. I squinted at the dull, partially broken screen.

Armin Arlert

I clicked the notification to answer and carried the laptop with me as I returned to my bed.

“Hey! Eren!” The cheerful voice on the other end was undeniable. I didn’t even need to see the screen to know who it was. Still, it was nice to see Armin, even if it was through a computer.

“Hey!” I responded, setting the laptop atop a pillow at the end of the bed and reclining against the headboard. “What’s going on?”

“Eh. Nothing much.” Armin shrugged. Then, he pulled out his iPad and began to babble excitedly. “So, I heard about your adventure a few days ago. That guy who came in with a gun, you know?”

“No big deal,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Is that all you called me about?”

“No! No! Well, partially. I was worried about you—”

“Well, I’m fine,” I shot back defensively. “So, what else was it you’re calling about?”

“Well,” Armin looked at his iPad for a moment before continuing, “I did some research about it and the guy who came into the shop and acted like a dick is Boris Feulner.”

“I know that,” I sighed.

“And I had a feeling you would.” Armin chuckled. “But, did you know that he allegedly works for a big-name criminal?”

“Hm?” I frowned and stared at the screen. As much as I loved Armin as a friend, his babble could get old fast. But, this time, it was interesting. This time, he’d actually dredged up some real shit. “Who?”

“Supposedly, he works for Dennis Eibringer. But the reports are pretty conflicted.” Armin had stopped looking at the camera. Now, he was staring at his iPad. “Overall, though, it leans more towards him working for Eibringer than alone. So…”

“So what does that mean!?” I shouted in excitement.

“Eh,” Armin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. His ice blue eyes darted off to the side, as far away from the camera as they could go without losing sight of the screen. “That’s what I’m not sure of. Did Levi say anything about it?”

“Well, not really. Mikasa’s pissed off because he ran to the back when he saw him, but that’s all I know.” I shrugged.

“Hm. I don’t blame her. Anyhow, I’ll keep looking into it. Thanks for the chat, Eren, but I’ve got to get back to studying.”

“Studying what?”

“I’m taking German. And there’s a test tomorrow, so…” Armin smiled and offered a friendly wave before disconnecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'ed as usual! Please comment if you see a mistake, please point it out! Thanks for all the support and feedback!


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mini chapter. This may or may not be the last chapter I post for a while. Gonna' be busy with college soon. Sorry! I promise it's relevant.

_To Eren_   
_Sorry for last night. We’ll talk about it later. Maybe. Store’s closed as usual on Mondays. Meet me in the workshop after breakfast._   
_Levi_

The note, having likely been stuffed under the door to my room, was on my floor when I woke up.

 

* * *

 

Having eaten some disgustingly bland Cheerios, I wandered downstairs to find Levi.

The workshop, right? I sighed, shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and stepped from the bottom stair and onto the workshop floor. “Levi?”

At the sound of his name, Levi immediately popped up from behind the counter. “Oh,” he commented, “You got the note.”

“Yeah,” I wandered around the table and found Levi inspecting an odd device. The base was an ornate table made of what I guessed was solid wood with a size about as large as the footprint of a small dining chair. Mounted atop it was an intricate iron cage, within which there were two life-sized bronze parrots. Upon seeing it, I couldn’t help but query, “What the fuck is that?”

“What I wanted you to come down and see,” Levi replied with a faint hint of a smile.

(I noted at this point that he seemed much more cheerful. At the very least, he had gotten over last night and all was back to normal. At least, it was as close to normal as it could get. But the mystery still remained.)

“That doesn’t help at all.”

“Would this?” Levi smirked and and leaned over. He carefully inserted an odd-looking key into the side of the device and began to wind. A series of mechanical clicks and whines came from the device. He let go and stepped back, stopping once he was beside me. “Watch,” he muttered, arms folded confidently.

More clicks and metallic groans. Then, the bird moved. It spread its bronze wings to reveal an array of intricate silk feathers. Some odd, old, unidentifiable tune started to play. The bird opened its beak and flapped its wings once. Twice. A set of three poles mounted beneath it rose, creating the illusion of the bird in flight. As the music continued, it flapped its wings and gently bobbed up and down. Then, as the song came to a close, it carefully lowered itself and returned to its usual spot.

“Damn,” I mumbled.

“Exactly what I said. And this thing was just sitting on the front porch when I came down this morning.” One of those rare grins spread across Levi’s face and stayed for a good two or three minutes as he explained, “It’s an automaton. A sort of singing robot. It seems to me to be a unique example of a massive singing bird box.”

“Hm,” I nodded. “Did you look through it to make sure there’s nothing weird in it?”

Levi also nodded. “Yeah. Of course. It’s fine.” He sighed and removed the stationary key from its slot. Then, he turned to me. “So, kinda’ cool, right?”

“Actually, it is,” I responded with a smile.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on more headcanons. Specifically: Levi is actually surprisingly good with kids in an odd sort of way and that Eren is fascinated by magic tricks.

Fifteen days.

The date was the thirty-first of October. Also known as Halloween. The street the store was on and some other surrounding ones were blocked off due to the annual Halloween party. According to what Hanji told me the day before, the party was divided into three distinct groups. The first group happened to be a few drunks. The second group was comprised of costumed children. The final was made of regular folk—parents, singles, and whatnot looking for a good time.

Anyhow, the store was opened as usual. Unlike usual, the heavy wooden door which led inside was propped open. A long cherry coffee table was set outside in front of the display window and some of the best of the smaller items were placed out.

At the far left was what I later learned to specifically be a Hammond 12 typewriter for $342. To the right of that was a tiny silver salt spoon with a naked woman adorning the top of its handle. It was a mere five dollars. A slightly worn but rather nicely preserved Chinese statue was available for thirty-five dollars and a small wax stamping ring was up for grabs at a mere thirty-one dollars. A few other things were also on display, but they were of little interest to me.

Around 5:00PM—roughly two hours before the party was scheduled to start—Levi and I headed outside. He instructed me to hand out flyers and had simply stated that the entertaining was his job. Then, he had pulled out a large leather suitcase.

From it, he first took a long dark-red satin cloak with a golden lining. He donned the cloak, pulled from the box an ornate Victorian masquerade mask of pure white with golden decorative markings. He put this on, sighed, and shoved his hands into the pockets of his plain brown pleated trousers. He adjusted his black tie and smoothed down his tan vest.

Quite honestly, I was skeptical of his claim to be the entertainer. As he did all of this, all I could think of was how Levi—someone I knew to be a crude and out-of-place when interacting with anyone—was going to entertain the crowds. Even so, it was his store. Not mine. So, I had to trust him. I gathered the flyers for the store and stood beside the door.

Soon thereafter, people began to show. Levi began entertaining by beckoning three families over. A total of four young adults and six children gathered around him as he walked up and down the table in silence.

I sighed. That end-of-the-month bonus from good sales today wasn’t going to happen.

Still, Levi began talking. Directing his commentary towards the two pairs of parents—who appeared be anywhere from twenty-three to thirty-five—he said, “If you wish to look through the wonderful dusty shit in the shop, please feel free to do so. I’ll take care of the snotty miniature people.”

To my surprise, the parents agreed to go inside. Apparently, they were quite entertained by his frankness about the situation.

So, Levi was left alone with six children. And, at this point, I was wondering what the hell would happen. After all, Levi wasn’t exactly a people person. Why would he be a kid person?

I handed the flyers to the parents as they entered and silently watched.

“What’re all you strange little things dressed as tonight?” Levi commented as opened a deck of antique cards. (I noted that he had a gentler tone than usual, though he still wasn’t a normal conversational partner.) He never smiled once. Although, that was just how he was, I suppose.

“A bat!”

“A racecar driver!”

“A mummy!”

“A wizard!”

The children each responded in similar ways. The last two happened to be a dog and a cowboy. Either way, their attentions were obviously wandering. I began to wonder if Levi knew what he was doing.

“Positively intriguing.” Levi’s response drew giggles from two of the six. “So, ever seen a pack of these ugly things?” He offered the kids a look at the deck of cards, listened to their responses (which I didn’t bother to pay attention to) and nodded. “Yeah, they’re ordinary old cards. Pieces of dried up yellow paper. But…” He shuffled the cards thoroughly and offered one to the child dressed as a bat. “What’s the thing say?”

It was a four of clubs, though Levi never saw it, and it was quickly handed back.

“Great.” He stuck the card back into the deck upside down and shuffled. He made some half-interested small talk before continuing the trick by setting the cards aside.

“Aren’t you supposed to find the card?” one of the children inquired.

Levi snickered. “Nope, you are.”

The child’s brow furrowed.

“Try your pocket. I’m sure there’s a lot of unnecessary crap in there,” Levi commented.

The kid took the hint, pulling the correct card out seconds later. “That’s the card!”

Levi sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes, you little snot, that’s the point.”

To my surprise, there was no reaction from the kid. Levi’s insult went unnoticed, mostly because the child was too interested in the trick to care.

In this manner—as I handed out flyers and Levi entertained kids who’d had too much sugar—the early evening turned to late night. The crowds thinned and, around 11:00PM, Levi gathered his things and told me to follow him inside.

* * *

 

“I didn’t know you did magic,” I commented as Levi emerged from his room. (By now, he had changed his outfit to a more casual set comprised of jeans and a graphic tee shirt.)

“Hm?” Levi frowned and looked at me for a moment before realizing what I’d said. He shrugged. “I don’t really do magic. They’re just stupid tricks.” He leaned over and picked up the suitcase, which he had deposited by his bedroom door a few minutes earlier. “A little skill and some distracting and people will believe fucking anything, you know.”

“Well, it’s pretty believable,” I commented.

To be honest, I’d always had an interest in magic tricks. I mean, they freaked me out sometimes, but they were pretty cool. After all, _I_ couldn’t make pigeons fly out of a shoe.

“You think so?” For a brief moment, a smile appeared on Levi’s face. However, as soon as it disappeared, he began to return to his room. “Maybe I’ll show you a few of the less child-friendly tricks later?” he commented as he stepped into his room and closed the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> UNBETAED! This chapter might be the last for a while! College is starting tomorrow and I have four classes! So, hopefully I can squeeze this in. Until then, you can always enjoy my other fics. Or not. I don't really know. Thanks for reading and I love comments!


	15. December 26, 1995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically a mini chapter. Sorry! It's been a little hectic with college and everything. But I hope you enjoy this little Levi intermission.

Levi sat alone in his room, staring at his box of magic supplies. He found himself doing something he usually tended not to—thinking of the past. This time, however, it was a good memory. Now, this was very odd situation, as Levi very rarely though of the happier times in his life. After all, there were only six (nearly seven) years of happiness before he was abruptly uprooted by his parents’ deaths.

_This particular memory pulled Levi just over a decade backwards. It started as he sat with his parents at a table adorned for both Christmas and his birthday. He pictured it in his head, breathed deeply, and smelled a phantasmal mixture of cinnamon, turkey, and cranberries. A large box wrapped in golden paper and adorned with a red ribbon sat before him. His father urged him to open it, but, having long since forgotten his voice, there was a strange silence. Even so, he opened the package._

_As the wrapping paper fell away in eagerly torn off chunks, a leather case was revealed. Eventually, it revealed itself to be a case of magic supplies. Levi recalled opening the bag with a pointed sense of exuberant curiosity. He remembered playing idly with the supplies and attempting to perform tricks as his parents watched._

_The images melted away. He found himself in his childhood room. The walls were a painted light blue and covered in family photos. A border depicting a pastel colored train beneath a line of multicolored airplanes wrapped around the upper portion of the room.  The windows were covered with a delicate layer of ice. Pale orange light from the rising sun shined through this delicate sheet of ice and formed elaborate patterns throughout the room. Everything was perfect._

Levi sighed and folded his arms across his chest. He sighed and reclined backwards so that he lay sideways across his bed.

_The dancing light, which had managed to captivate Levi’s younger mind, faded as the door to his room opened. The bright hallway light surged into the room, yet the shadow cast by it was far more shocking. A man with thick, tangled, brown hair and deep-set eyes was highlighted in the doorway._

_“My name is Kitts Woerman. Your parents are dead,” he said disinterestedly. “As next of kin, you’ll be coming with me.”_

The image shattered. Levi quickly sat upright. He massaged his temples and let forth a heavy sigh. How was it that he could only remember good things when they were followed by bad things?


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Content warning for violence, blood, and what could possibly be interpreted as glorification of death (** though it's not supposed to be that **).** Also, we're finally getting somewhere. This went from fluff to drama really fast, didn't it? Oh well.

Day twenty.

I awoke to a cacophony of muffled curses and thudding downstairs.

I stumbled down the stairs, confused and concerned, after hearing a gunshot. As I descended the stairwell, another sound echoed through the house. Glass shattered. I began to sprint. I rounded the corner, threw open the door, and stumbled down the hallway. Emerging into the living space, I spotted a figure of a man outlined by the light of the moon. I took a single step forward.

“Down!” I recognized Levi’s voice as a single shot rang through the air. His silhouette rushed in and grabbed the gun. He forced it down as smoke rose from its barrel.

The stranger retaliated by ripping himself free of Levi’s grip and kicking him in the face. He began to level the gun at Levi.

I reacted on a whim. Without really knowing why, I found myself sprinting forward. I noted a dull pain which started near the middle of my left shin. With every step the throbbing briefly escalated to searing, stabbing pain. Then, it would die out. I ignored it.

I was focused on one thing.

I slammed into the stranger. A small sound escaped him as I made contact. He fell to the ground. All the while, I continued to mindlessly follow my own subconscious commands. I leaned over, grabbed the man by his neck, and lifted him.

By now, we were in Levi’s room. We were near the window.

My leg hurt like hell by now, but I was distracted enough to avoid looking at it. I was busy. I was busy ramming the man’s face against the glass of the window. Busy seeking some sort of odd revenge on someone I didn’t even know.

The glass began to crack. Lines crept slowly across the window panes. Another impact. They stretched out more. I found myself yelling. I don’t know what I was yelling. I only know that I was. I continued to yell whatever it was that something deep in the back of my mind wanted me to say as, with a powerful third shove, I slammed the intruder’s head through the glass.

Some shards caught the moonlight and glittered like stars as they fell, and others just fell onto the street below, reflecting nothing through the thick blood which covered them. Jagged remnants of the window dug into my hand. Blood dripped down my fingers, traced across my palm, and gathered near my wrist.

The man was bleeding, too. With the light of the moon and the streetlamps below, I could make out his face. He was the same man as before. Only, now, his short grey hair was thick with blood. The same red substance strayed from his nose and from a gash on the right side of his face. His blood slid off of him. Some of it fell on me, mingling with my own. Some disappeared as it fell to the street below.

“Bastard!” The only word I actually remember saying. I screamed it. I spat it out with all the animosity I could muster—and all the anger and disappointment and frustration and confusion I had within myself.

And, as I did screamed, the man’s golden-brown gaze met mine. A flash of confidence—a sort of twinkling of his eyes. Another gunshot. Then, without another word, he kicked free of my grip. He fell from the window and landed hard on the pavement below, where he lay motionless.

He wasn’t dead, of course. No, that would have been too simple. But, at that moment, I thought he was. I sincerely thought he was.

And, at the moment, I finally looked down. My pants leg was drenched with warm red. Two gaping holes—one slightly above the other—stared at me from below my knee.

I began to feel.

First, it was warmth. And the warmth dripped down my hands and arms and radiated through my leg. Then, it was pain. Stabbing pain like I’d never felt before. I bit my lip to keep from yelling.

Never yell. Never show fear. Never show pain. Those were the rules I’d grown up chanting in my head. And they were rules I was desperately trying to follow.

My vision began to blur. Sirens began sounding in the distance. Loud. Soft. Loud. Soft. Their noise level fading in and out. I fell, landed half-sitting half-slumping against the wall. Glass crunched beneath me as I landed.

“Eren!” It was Levi. He was loud. Or maybe he wasn’t. But he was loud at that moment. And his voice echoed around in my head and pounded against my skull. I could see his blurred form approaching. I saw him stumble towards me, kneel beside me. “Don’t die, dammit! Don’t fucking die, kid.”

I nodded. Although, thinking about it, I don’t know why I did. It’s not like I was promising him that I’d avoid doing what all people eventually do. Hell, at that point, I figured it was like I once heard one of those roadside preachers yelling.

Everyone had their time. Everyone died. Some people just died sooner. Maybe I was one of those people. That was my only thought. What if I just wasn’t meant to live longer than this?

“Eren!” I thought I saw blood dripping from Levi’s nose, though it was too dark and blurry to tell. “Eren! Eren!” With each cry of my name, his voice grew more and more desperate. And it seemed more and more distant.

The sirens were louder.

Everything hurt.

I briefly met Levi’s gaze, muttered something under my breath, and closed my eyes.

* * *

 

That’s it. Just. Nothing.

A stretch of empty darkness.

But, somehow, it felt good. It felt safe. It was comforting. Here, there was nothing. Nothing good. Nothing bad. No danger.

* * *

 

“He’s my brother, dammit! Let me in!” It seemed distant, but I could hear Mikasa screaming. I could hear as she kicked against something. “He’s my goddamn brother, you bastards! Let me in!”

“Get her out of here. She’s causing a disturbance. Get him to the back.” An unfamiliar voice. Male, probably. From the sound of it, I pictured a stout man in his mid-fifties. Freckles, maybe. Maybe not.

“Yes, sir.” Two strange voices at once. Then, they began conversing back and forth.

“He looks pretty bad.”

“Eh, whatever. It’s not like he’s a kid. He’s lived enough.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point.”

Something cold slid beneath the skin of my right wrist. I went back to the inexplicably comforting emptiness.

* * *

 

“That’s fucking disgusting.”

“Never seen one that bad before.”

Odd voices. Men. Women. They bounced about in my head, echoing, as they conversed.

“Can we—?”

“Of course not.”

“So that’s the end of the leg, then.”

“Yeah.”

“Back he goes, then.”

The same cold object slipped under my skin once more. I returned to floating through the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments are appreciated! Thanks for all the support and feedback! Nearly 75 subscribers! Wow!


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which shit starts going down.

From the darkness, I slowly began to emerge. I began to feel a rough but comfortable mattress beneath me and a prickly but soft blanket wrapped around me. I found that air was being forced into my nose and down my throat. Little puffs. Regularly spaced. And I realized the puffs came from a plastic tube beneath my nose. I slowly opened my eyes. They were thick with sleep. That odd hard residue which gathers during sleep peeled and fell away.

And I saw bright white. Just blinding white. I felt as if I was dead, like I was floating. Then, my vision began to clear.

Plain grey walls. A window with the canvas curtains drawn tightly closed. A monitor which beeped steadily. I turned my head to the side and found myself staring, first of all, at a thick metal railing. Then, as my vision cleared more, I saw a table. Cards and balloons adorned it. A giant “Get Well Soon” balloon hovered above my head, though it wasn’t quite as high as it could have been. It must have been there for a few days.

But, what about me? Surely, _I_ couldn’t have been here for more than a few hours, right?

“Oh, you’re awake,” an unfamiliar voice commented.

My eyes turned rapidly to the source. A woman with long black hair and dark brown skin. I frowned and opened my mouth to speak. I found that it was incredibly dry. My tongue briefly clung to the roof of my mouth. “Where am I?” I mumbled.

“Karanese Hospital,” the woman replied softly.

“How long have I been here?” My voice was hoarse and quiet. My throat itched like hell.

“Almost two weeks.” The woman began to hum a song as she wandered towards me.

“Two weeks!?” I sputtered.

She frowned. “Calm down, please,” she sighed, pulling up the sheets. “You’ve been through a lot. Stress won’t do much good.”

I nodded and let forth a reluctant sigh. My head fell back into the pillow and I closed my eyes. I listened as the nurse (at least that’s what I assumed she was) continued talking. Her voice was calming. Or, maybe, it was just new.

“It’s amazing you don’t have any more damage than you do. We thought you were going to die for quite a while. Do you remember what happened?”

My eyes still closed, I managed to form a picture. “I got shot, right? In the leg? How would that kill me?”

“Well, it barely missed a major artery. Extensive tissue damage. Oh, and then there was the infection. That got messy.” She sighed.

“Infection?” I muttered.

“Oh, right, you haven’t woken up until now. Well, I guess someone has to tell you at some point.” A knocking at the door interrupted the nurse’s thoughts. She pulled the covers back down. “But, luckily, it won’t be me today.” I heard her shoes clicking against the floor as she left, opening the door.

“Hey.” A forlorn but familiar voice.

I open my eyes and felt a surge of excitement as my gaze fell upon Levi. A straight line ran horizontally across the bridge of his nose, but he was otherwise unscathed. “Levi!”

He offered me an odd sort of expression. It seemed like he wanted to smile, but it came across as more of a scowl. His eyes stayed locked on the ground. His hands remained buried deep in his pockets. His shoes scuffed the floor with every step as he made his way to me and sat at the end of the bed, his back facing me. “So, you’re awake.”

“Yeah. And you’re the first one to see me. Isn’t that funny?” I replied, still more than a little high on pain medication.

“Yeah.” Levi’s voice was usually flat. But, now, it was flatter than usual. In fact, it seemed sad.

My excitement began to subside. “What?”

Levi’s hand reached up to his face for a moment. Then, it fell to his side. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I inquired.

Levi sighed and stood up. He wandered over to the window and leaned against the inner ledge. “I might as well tell you. You’ve been here for nearly two weeks. Sure they’ve told you that, but… You get infected. Big, nasty as fuck infection. And they didn’t have anything else to do. It was you or the leg. And, well… It’s pretty obvious which they picked.”

I frowned. My brows furrowed. I reached down, beneath the covers, and felt around. I felt both of my knees, but I didn’t feel much more below my left one. It was shocking, but it wasn’t exactly world-shattering. And maybe it was the drugs. But, really, the only thing that bothered me was how goddamned upset Levi seemed. “Well, I guess that’s better than being dead…?”

Levi reached into the breast pocket of his black overcoat. He pulled out a cigarette and stuck it into his mouth. But he never lit it. He chewed it. He rolled it back and forth between gritted teeth as he turned towards me. “Your sister wants you to go back with her. I can’t do anything about it. But neither can she. It’s your choice.”

Chewing on my lip, I considered my options. There wasn’t exactly anywhere wrong to go. I mean, I was probably more likely to get injured with Levi. But, really, Mikasa wasn’t even in the best part of town. So I could still get hurt there. And, really, it didn’t matter. No matter how hard I tried (and, admittedly, I didn’t really try that hard), I couldn’t change my mind. I knew it was Levi. I knew I wanted to stay with him.

“So, I can go with you?” I hopefully inquired.

Levi shook his head. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal flask. He unscrewed it, took a large gulp, and folded his arms. “You could. I’m not letting you.”

“What!?” I yelled. “Why the fuck not?”

Levi ran his fingers through his hair and turned abruptly. His bloodshot gaze met mine. “Because you don’t understand how much more danger you’ll be in if you come back with me. I’m not letting you die because you’re too stubborn to actually do something logical, dammit.” He hurled the flask at the ground. The smell of alcohol filled the room as the contents began to spill out.

“But…” I protested.

“God fucking dammit, kid. Stop it!” Levi closed his eyes and massaged his temples, stumbling to the side a bit as he did. “You don’t fucking know what’s happening. You don’t fucking understand. I’ve died once. And if you die, I might as well fucking die again. Stop shoving sticks up your ass and shit in your ears and listen to me.” He shook his head, as if to clear his mind, and stumble to my bedside. His hand gripped the railing until his knuckles turned as white as the sheets. Sweat dripped down his forehead.

“Yeah, well Mikasa’s no fucking better. We live in the shit part of town, you know. I could die there just as easily!”

Levi frowned. Something visibly rose up his throat, but he forced it down. He shuddered and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Eren,” his breath reeked of alcohol. “You’re a target now. They want me. Not you. They only want you if you’re useful to them. Leave.”

“But I don’t want to leave! I’ve finally gotten somewhere in my fucking life and now you’re kicking me out? What the fucking hell, Levi?” I sputtered.

Levi shook his head again. He let go of the railing, stumbled backwards, doubled over, and vomited. Then, he fell to his knees. He coughed. Vomited more.

A nurse came in and grabbed him by the back of his coat. She admonished him for coming into a hospital drunk and dragged him out of the room before I could say anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and feedback are still appreciated! Tell me what you like or don't like! I love feedback!


	18. Chapter 18

Apparently, some sort of odd genetic thing makes me heal faster than most people. By the time I’d spent a full week in recovery, I had reached the point that most people don’t reach for another two or three weeks. Of course, this meant a lot of unwanted probing and testing by doctors, but I guess that’s a whole lot better than just idling around doing nothing all day.

On November twenty-fourth, I was discharged from the hospital and given instructions to see a physical therapist regularly for the next six months. Of course, I didn’t really have any money for it, so I ended up shoving the recommendation into my wallet and forgetting about it.

“So,” a familiar voice, that of my sister (technically half-sister), Mikasa, mumbled, “You’re coming home with me?”

I sighed heavily and shrugged. I avoided meeting her gaze directly. It was partially nerves and mostly because I was still convinced she talked Levi into handing me back to her. “I don’t really have anywhere else to go, do I?” I half-spat half-growled in reply. A nurse unceremoniously dragged me from my bed and dropped me into one of the hospital’s generic grey wheelchairs.

“I mean, you could go live on your own or something.” Mikasa suggested. She rolled her eyes and tugged that ratty old red scarf—an ugly old thing I’d given her for Christmas at least a decade ago—up over her mouth. She was bluffing. I wasn’t an expert at reading people, but I’d been around Mikasa enough to know her habits. And, I knew that when the scarf went up, whatever she was saying was either a sarcastic side-comment or something that meant next to nothing.

“Yeah,” I sneered, folding my arms across my chest, “And I’ll just go use all the money I have. What, it’s like… Oh… Fifty fucking dollars? I can get a great place with that.”

Mikasa rolled her eyes again. “Whatever, Eren. I’ve already told you that I never said a thing to Levi.”

“Whatever. Can’t I just leave here on my own? Do they have to push me all the way out to the car? Because I’m perfectly able to walk right the fuck out of this dump.” My response elicited an annoyed sigh from the nurse and a glare from Mikasa. I immediately backed down.

* * *

 

By the time Mikasa and I arrived at the house and set my room up so that it was habitable again (as she’d turned it into a storage closet while I was gone), it was around four in the afternoon. The sun was setting, and the snow that had been falling all day was finally beginning to stick. A thin layer of white coated the ramshackle landscape.

“You’re not seriously thinking about going outside, right?”

I frowned and turned my gaze towards Mikasa. For the first time, I realized I’d been staring out the window. “Hm?” I grunted. “Why not?”

“You just got back from the hospital, Eren. You’re supposed to be resting,” Mikasa replied emphatically. Her brows furrowed.

At the time, her reply pissed me off. After all, I was an adult. I was eighteen. She’d always babied me, and then wasn’t a great moment for me to feel like I was being coddled. Thinking back, though, I realize that she was only concerned about me. After all, her mother wanted nothing to do with her or our father after the divorce. And the mother she’d come to know the best—my biological mother—had long since died. We had no idea where the hell our father was. Hell, we didn’t give a damn where he was. We were the only family we had left.

But, at that moment, I only felt the need to spite her. She’d pulled me away from the only remotely exciting thing that had happened in the past ten years of my life, and I was angry as hell. I didn’t need her. I didn’t need anyone. “I’m going for a walk.”

“Eren!” Mikasa groaned, grabbing my wrist as I reached for the dull aluminum crutches I’d been given at the hospital. “Don’t be stupid.”

“Stop treating me like your incompetent baby brother!” I snapped, pulling free from her grip. “I’m not five, Mikasa. I can take care of myself. You’re not my mother.”

“Your mother gave me the job of keeping you out of trouble,” Mikasa murmured, her gaze drifting towards the floor.

“Yeah, well she’d been dead for years and I can do whatever I damn well please.” I propped myself up, balanced between my right leg and the one crutch I’d managed to grab, and snatched up the other one. Before Mikasa could object further, I rushed to the door. I grabbed my favorite leather jacket—a thick, beaten-up, wool-lined thing that used to belong to my father—and set off. I departed from the front step with no clear destination in mind and turned left.

I wandered around aimlessly for at least an hour. I watched the sun set and saw thin streaks of golden orange through cracks in between the clouds. I caught glimpses of the moon as it tried to peek through the overcast sky. I had time to myself.

For the first time since all the shit had hit the fan, I had time to think.

I found myself sitting on a rotting wooden bench outside of the cigar store. My hands were raw and my underarms burned like hell. I sighed and stared up at the sky.

How did I even end up here?

What was I even doing?

The crosswalk signal turned white. Began to count down from twenty three. People crammed into their tiny little cars glared at the stoplight. Fingers thudded against steering wheels.

What did I really want?

“Levi,” I whispered to no one in particular.

I wanted Levi. I wanted to be with him. I wanted to smell his familiar scent—that strange aroma of oak, furniture stain, tea leaves, and leather-bound books. I wanted to see that elusive smile again, feel as comfortable as I had when I was around him again.

No!

What was I thinking? I’d only known him for two weeks. He couldn’t possibly be that important to me. And, yet…

The way his eyes lit up when something interesting showed up at the store. That odd childish spark he showed from time to time...

I shook my head. A few stray crystals of white and some melted snow fell to the ground. I gathered my things and continued. I wandered down the main streets and through a few odd alleys for a while.

Then, as I idly observed a brightly lit Christmas display in the window of a barber shop, I felt it. I felt a searing pain shoot up my left leg. It ran up my spine and shot back down through the leg. It looped again and again. I bit my lip and leaned against the glass window. “Fuck,” I snarled, untying the knot I’d made in my pants leg.

I stared at the remainder of my leg. Nothing was wrong. But the pain was radiating, now. It felt as if it was coming from my foot. But there was no foot. Just some snow and a few discarded cigarette butts. I closed my eyes and slid into a sitting position.

“Dammit, Mikasa,” I whispered through gritted teeth, “Stop being right all the goddamn time.” I looked down at my watch. Nine. I closed my eyes again. There was some pill they’d given me. Something I was supposed to take every day at seven, after dinner.

“Goddammit.” I grabbed the brick windowsill and dragged myself back to my feet. I found that I was drenched in sweat. Cold. Everything was cold. I stumbled down a nearby alley and, before I knew what was happening, I saw him.

That man. The one with grey hair. The one who’d started this shit. I aimed a punch at his face. He kicked my crutch from beneath me. I fell.

“So, you’re still alive?” the man sneered.

What was his name?

What was his name?

“Tell me, kid,” he stepped forward and rested his boot against the exposed side of my face. A cruel smile spread across his face. “What happened to your pal, Levi? Hm? Where’s he? I’m sure he’s missing you.” He kicked me in the stomach.

I gasped. “I don’t know,” I breathed, still battling the strange pain in my leg.

“That’s a lie.” Another kick to the stomach. “And, if it’s not, I can still use you.”

I reached to grab his boot. To pull him down.

He retaliated by stepping back and grabbing me by the throat, instead. “You’ve got fight in you, you shit. I like that. But that won’t do any good when you’re a head on Levi’s porch.”

I closed my eyes.

_Bang._

The man suddenly released me. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the man, unconscious on the ground, and my savior.

“Levi?” I muttered.

He shrugged and dropped the metal trash can lid he’d been holding. He knelt down and offered me his hand. “You’re an idiot, you know.”

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Eren!”

The image of Levi faded. I felt myself being shaken. The pain was still shooting up and down my leg.

“What? What!?” I replied.

“I’ve been looking for you all morning!” Mikasa. It was Mikasa.

I scowled. Here she was, come to save the snot-nosed little brother again. Still, I couldn’t exactly refuse help at this point. I opened my eyes for a brief moment. I found myself still on the old wooden bench, covered in snow. I shrugged and closed my eyes again. There wasn’t much I could do. I was freezing and being carried like a heavy rug over my half-sister’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback and comments are welcome!


	19. Chapter 19

I sat outside. Wrapped in my father’s old coat and a thick wool blanket, I watched idly as my breath rose and formed little clouds in the cold winter air. I tentatively sipped the foul-tasting, bitter coffee Mikasa served me every morning. “Drink up,” she’d say, “Get some energy.” So, I did. There wasn’t much use fighting her over one cup.

I sighed. A cloud rose before my eyes and was carried away by the wind. It dwindled, then faded to nothing.

November twenty-seventh. Thanksgiving.

Like most other holidays, Thanksgiving at our place wasn’t exactly the feast that most people think of. Hell, it was barely even a holiday. Instead of some elaborate family breakfast, Mikasa and I ate some cereal and parted ways. She began working on dinner—the usual holiday meal, potatoes, carrots, and some ham—and I went outside.

“You know,” I heard Mikasa say from behind me, probably standing in the doorway, “You’re going to get sick sitting out here.”

I shrugged. Took another sip of coffee.

Mikasa sighed. The door closed.

I remained silent.

“Look,” something deep inside of me spoke up, “You’re being an asshole. Mikasa only wants to help.”

“Yeah, sure,” pointed out some other part of me, “But she’s also pulled you away from Levi.”

“But what does he mean to you, anyhow? Who is he to you? Why does he matter so much?”

“Because you’re comfortable around him. He seems to understand you to a degree and, in return, you have a flimsy grasp on his own personal issues. He was your boss and, more importantly, he was your friend.”

I sighed and rubbed my head. Another sip of coffee.

The inner dialogue continued. “He’s years older than you,” pestered one part of me.

“But he can still be a good friend,” countered the other.

A few flakes of fresh snow began to drift through the air. I glanced upward and watched as their density began to increase. They came small at first, forming that kind of light, fluffy snow that crumbled in your hands. But, then, it became that sort of thick, packable snow. The sort that you could take and mold into whatever the hell you wanted to.

At some point, I decided that I’d done enough thinking for the day. My head was starting to hurt. I leaned over, scooped some snow up, and began to sculpt it into the rough shape of a sphere. Then, halfway through, I decided that the endeavor was childish and let the half-formed snowball fall to the ground.

Confused, cold, and suffering from a mild headache, I gathered my things and wandered back inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and feedback are welcome! Thanks for following the story and I hope you enjoy it!


	20. December 26, 1995

Levi sat in his car, which smelled of cigarette smoke and alcohol at the time, and sighed. He rested his elbow against the edge between the window and the inside of the door, and rested his chin on his hand. He stared vacantly at the house before him. “Jaeger” was stamped on the side of the mailbox, though the name was slowly fading away.

He glanced at the back seat. A pile of old clothes. Discarded cigarette packs.

Why was he here?

He closed his eyes and an image of Eren floated briefly in the darkness. It disappeared. That was why.

He pulled down the sun visor and pried open the cover over the mirror. After brushing back a few stray strands of hair, he deemed himself to be acceptable. He stepped from the car and wandered up to the door. Then, following a moment of hesitation, he knocked.

From inside, he could hear someone approaching. He panicked, pulled a thick envelope form his breast pocket, and jammed it under the door. Then, he scrambled back to the car. The home’s door opened as he drove away.

* * *

 

At some point, he found himself in a smoke-filled bar. The scent of burning tobacco mingled with the aroma of alcohol, creating a potent stench. But he liked it. It took his mind off of what was happening right now.

He stared at the top of the bar. The image faded in and out of focus. “Another.” He emptied his wallet. The change clanged against the countertop and the sound rang in his ears.

* * *

 

“Levi!”

A voice called to him from somewhere in the distance. He stared at the yellow and brown patterned walls and watched as the wallpaper peeled away and fell. The glue began to melt, and it turned to blood. But, through the blood, he could see that there was something behind the wall. Or something he could see _through_ the wall.

He reached forward and wiped away the dark red liquid to reveal that the walls were made of glass. And, behind that glass, were faces. Faces of people he’d known. Faces of people who had died. Faces of people he’d let down. And, amidst those faces, was Eren. He stood in front, his face pressed to the glass by the sheer number of people packed into the tiny, transparent room.

“Levi!”

He stumbled backwards. The voice was closer.

“Levi!”

The crowd inside the room began to move. They lifted their hands and clawed at the windows, the walls, and at each other. They struggled to escape. But they couldn’t.

“Levi!”

On an impulse, he looked towards the window. The voice was loud, now. Almost as if it was next to him. He opened his mouth to reply, only to have a dirtied hand cover it. He turned and looked into the abysmal gaze of a familiar golden-eyes man. His grey hair was matted with blood.

“Look at them,” the man hissed, prodding a long, bony finger at the glass cage. “You know them, don’t you, Levi?”

His parents. They staggered to the front of the crowd, pushing in front of Eren. They stared at him, their faces scratched and bruised but remarkably untouched by time. Levi broke free of the man’s grasp and stumbled to the window. He pressed his hands against the glass. “Please,” he muttered, “Don’t leave me again.”

And, as he finished, a loud bang echoed through the hell in which he was trapped. Thick blood splattered against the window, obscuring his vision.

“How pathetic,” the other man sneered. He snapped.

The window cleared. A young, frightened boy stood before it. Another bang. Another splatter.

People he knew showed up again and again. They looked at him trustingly, and splattered against the transparent barrier. Eventually, Levi gave up. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes. “You’ve made your point,” he sobbed.

“You’ve made a mistake, Levi.”

Frowning, Levi looked up at the grey-haired man. “What do you mean?”

“You should have learned by now.”

Eren stood before the glass, now. He stared at Levi, his eyes wide with fear.

“Levi!” he yelled.

The voice. That was the voice. This whole time, it was Eren.

“Don’t you dare!” Levi thundered. He reached out to grab the man, but his hands just went through him. It was as if he was a ghost.

“You’re a sick, sick bastard, Levi. And I would have thought you’d have learned by now,” the man leaned in closer. His nose was nearly touching Levi’s. A terrible smirk was spread across his face. “You never deserved any love.”

* * *

 

Levi woke up to the sound of the telephone ringing. He frowned, squinted at the clock on the wall, and sighed. Midnight. Who would call him at midnight?

He groped around in the dark for a moment. Then, he found it. He pulled the phone towards him and looked at the number. It was Petra.

What had he been dreaming about?

He picked up the phone. “Yeah, what? I’m trying to sleep.”

“Well,” a familiar voice replied, “That’s no way to greet a friend.”

Levi’s heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. His breath caught in his throat. “Petra—?”

“Is dead,” the voice replied.

The line went dead, and Levi dropped the phone. Suddenly, he recalled his dream.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YOU WANTED A REUNION CHAPTER AND I WAS PLANNING ONE, SO HERE IT IS.

Having received an envelope of money from what I thought to be an obvious source, Mikasa decided to push me back into therapy. I started on December first.

On December seventh, Mikasa dropped me off at the physical therapy building, and I was fitted with a new leg. Standard construction. Nothing very elaborate. The cover protecting the inner workings was a glossy black, and the components that did show through were stained a dull silver. The company’s logo was stamped near the upper base of the shin.

It wasn’t the most beautiful thing in the world, but it worked. Aside from that, it was pretty comfortable. They showed me how to put it on and take it off, made me practice a few times, and sent me on my way with a pretty dull-looking aluminum cane.

As I exited into the lobby, I was greeted by an unexpected sight.

A man in a black zip-up overcoat and grey slacks sat in the corner. His face was hidden behind a magazine about the latest happenings of instrumental music, but his identity was unmistakable. Hat smell of oak wood, furniture stain, and leather bound books, though mingled with the fain odor of tobacco, was undeniable.

“Levi?” I mumbled. My tone of voice was probably halfway between confusion and elation.

“Hm.” He looked up from over the top of the newspaper. A faint smile flickered across his pale features. “What?”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to stick around anymore. Something about me being in danger?” I commented.

“You still are,” Levi frowned. He sighed, rolled up the magazine, and tossed it back onto the glass-top table in front of him. “But your sister called me and begged me to take you back. Something about you being one hell of a downer. Whining all the time and all that shit.”

“So exactly what is the danger from?” I asked.

Levi stood up and turned his back to be. He began to walk away. “If I told you, you’d probably be deeper in this shit. Let’s just say it has to do with me fucking up spectacularly at life.”

I nodded and decided not to comment. I followed him to his car and, after getting in, was surprised to find all of my things loaded into the back. “How’d you get my stuff?”

“Your sister gave me your address. Said she knew you well enough to know what you’d want.” He slammed his door shut and turned the key in the ignition. The vehicle sputtered and shook gently. But it didn’t start. Levi growled and repeated the process. Again, the car sputtered. “This goddamn piece of shit,” he grumbled, kicking at the bottom of the steering column. “DAMMIT!”

He sighed, ran his fingers through his hair, and forced open the door. “Sorry about this,” he muttered, sticking a cigarette between his teeth and lighting it as he wandered towards the hood of the car.

“It’s fine.”

 “Hm.” Levi grunted and pried open the hood. “What’s going on with this pile of horse shit now?”

I shrugged. I was pretty sure he wasn’t looking for an answer, so I didn’t give him one. Instead, I folded my arms and propped my right foot up on the edge of the backrest in front of me. “Where did you even get this crappy car?”

A brief hint of a smirk appeared on Levi’s face as he answered, “Some shady car dealer. Promised me half off or whatever. I’ve since figured out why.”

Good enough answer. I rolled a few thoughts around in my head. “You have any gum?” I asked impulsively.

“In the glove box. Don’t go sticking it anywhere in the car. I might not like this thing, but I still have to drive it. And I don’t need your sticky, saliva-soaked gum anywhere in it.”

I nodded and clambered over the central armrest. After prying open the glove compartment, I claimed my prize and returned to my seat. I unwrapped a strip and popped it into my mouth. “Hey, Levi,” I mumbled as I gnawed at the slowly softening hunk of gum, “When’s your birthday?”

“Is this for one of those pointless astrological things? I hate those things. They’re a load of bullshit. Waste your dollar fifty and get this little app that has fucking useless advice based on an outdated science.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair and kicked the front bumper. Suddenly, the car sputtered to life.

“Well that’s convenient.” I shrugged and folded my arms behind my head. I stretched out as much as I could in the back of his nineties sedan. “So, when’s your birthday?”

“You want to know that damn badly?” he grunted as he dropped into the driver’s seat and slammed the door shut. “December twenty-fifth. I was born on every snot-nosed shit of a child’s favorite day. Lucky me.”

“I think that’s pretty interesting, actually,” I countered. “I’ve never actually known anyone with a birthday on Christmas.”

“Well, now you do.” In the rearview mirror, I could see his eyes darting from side to side and up to the center mirror. All the while, he never looked directly at me. In fact, thinking about it now, he was probably trying to avoid me. At the time, though, I just thought he was being a conscientious driver. “So, are we just going chat idly all the way back?” he grumbled.

“Whatever.” I shrugged and flipped the already-flavorless bit of gum around in my mouth. I chewed at it a bit more. “Do you ever, you know, listen to the radio while you drive?”

“Nope.”

“Nothing? You just… Drive?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded. Most people I knew drove listening to music. Again, I chocked it up to personal preference. He was probably just one of those guys who just got distracted by music. “So, how far away are we?”

“Not that far.” For the first time, his gaze fell on me. It lingered for only a second, though. “Put your seatbelt on. If I throw on the brakes, I’d rather not have to clean up your goddamned brain splatter from my windshield afterwards.”

I hadn’t realized I wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Hell, I thought I’d put it on. But, when I looked down, he was right. I sighed and strapped myself into place. “There. Happy now, Sir Safety?”

“Hmph.” Levi turned his attentions back to the road.

A silence fell between us. We turned a corner and I began to recognize the buildings. We were about five minutes away, if, of course, my guess was right. “Hey, Levi?”

“What?”

“Where do your parents live?”

“Nowhere.” He said it as if he was answering a mundane inquiry. As if I’d asked him how the weather was or what the time was. His face—or, at least, what I could see of it in the rearview mirror—was devoid of emotion. “They’re dead. Died a long time ago.”

“Oh.” I frowned and stared at the gum wrapper, which I hadn’t realized was still in my hand until that moment. “Sorry.”

“I’ve gotten over it.” He shrugged and turned the indicator on. The car slowed to a crawl as he pulled into the alley between the store and the coffee shop. Upon seeing the shop, he seemed to realize something. For a moment, he seemed sad. Then, he promptly returned to appearing completely neutral. “The shop over there’s closing, by the way.”

“Really? Why?”

He sighed. His gaze darted to the ground as he opened my door. “Murder. Happened a few days ago. Thursday, actually. Petra…” he hesitated, “Petra was murdered. They don’t know who did it, and that place was already getting a bad reputation from some nasty rumors, so…”

He grabbed my hand. A sort of warmth ran through me, beginning from where his hand gripped mine and emanating throughout my body from there.

“Sorry about that,” was all I could think to say. I never really knew Petra that well, but I’d known she was a friend of Levi’s. And she’d given me advice that had turned out to be pretty damn useful, too.

Levi shrugged. After letting out a long sigh, he replied flatly, “Nothing I can do about it. Doesn’t really matter, then, right?” He turned quickly and propped open the rear entrance. “Can you make it upstairs?”

“Yeah,” I half-lied.

“Okay, then.” His voice carried a hint of suspicion, though his face never betrayed it. “You go upstairs and get settled in. I’ll get your things up there for you. Not that much, anyhow. Just a bunch of clothes, right?”

“Pretty much.” I turned and wandered inside. Then, I began to make my way upstairs.

I scaled both staircases as quickly as I possibly could. One set. Two. By this point, the leg was starting to ache. I stumbled down the hallway, into the room, and dropped onto the bed.

It wasn’t so much a terrible, persistent pain. It was more of a dull pain that faded in and out.

What had the doctor said?

Break it in slowly and don’t do more than a few hours in it.

I frowned. The therapy had been two hours. Then, there were about two hours between the end of that and my release. Four hours total.

I pulled up my pants leg and carefully removed the leg. I propped it up haphazardly, leaning it between the edge of the nightstand to my left and the side of my bed. As I set it down, I heard something crumple. Paper, maybe. I looked down and, surprisingly, it was just that—paper. I picked it up and flipped it around in my hands.

It wasn’t regular paper. In fact, it was a scrap wallpaper. An intricate floral pattern decorated it. The pattern was forest green and the background a softer shade of olive green. A spot of dried blood marred its center. I frowned. What the hell was it?

The door handle turned.

I impulsively shoved the scrap of wallpaper under my pillow. It was actually sort of gross, I guess. I mean, I shoved a bloodstained piece of wallpaper under the pillow I slept on, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about at the time. I was thinking about looking at it closer. Trying to figure out what the fuck it was. Why it was here.

* * *

 

Dinner was comprised of a myriad of the rich foods I’d grown accustomed to at Levi’s place. Tonight’s meal was chicken stuffed with crab and served alongside mashed potatoes. The potatoes were sprinkled with a light hint of freshly cultivated garlic from Hanji’s so-called “secret” spice garden.

“You know,” Levi commented without ever looking away from his food. He was like that when he ate. He never took his eyes off the food and he never dared to stop eating. He spoke swiftly, made his point, and immediately continued to devour his meal. “You can sleep on the futon in the living room if it’s easier. I don’t give a damn.”

“We had a futon once,” I mumbled, prodding at my half-finished chicken. “I sat down one time and it folded up on me. Not exactly the best thing ever.”

Levi nodded. He went silent for a minute. Then, he spoke up. “I don’t really think you need to be climbing two sets of stairs right now, you know?” He offered a sheepish, wavering half-smile. He spoke tentatively. “I… Um… You could use my bed. If you don’t mind… It’s a double, so…”

“Yeah, sure.” I never really thought about it. I just answered. Impulse.

Levi swallowed his last bit of chicken and glanced at my plate. “Cool. So, you eating the rest of that?”

“Not really.” I smirked and shoved the remainder of my meal to him.

Not surprisingly, he ate all of it within ten minutes.

* * *

 

It wasn’t until I went to bed that I realized what I’d agreed to. And, to my surprise, it wasn’t a negative realization. It wasn’t a terrible, horrible thing or some sort of horrific error in my judgment. Actually, it was kind of nice. It was this warm, pleasant feeling that slowly crept outwards from my gut and radiated through my body.

The warmth intensified when, as I settled down under the covers, Levi emerged from the bathroom. His hair was wet, which was understandable considering he’d just taken a shower, and it clung to his face. A thick hand towel was draped around his bare shoulders and the dim light of the streetlights shining through the window outlined his muscles. They weren’t exactly the defined muscles of a body builder. They were softer. Less aggressive. Inviting…

“What’re you looking at, Jaeger?” he grumbled as he made a final attempt to dry his hair. “Do I need to kick you out of here?” He seemed serious, but there was a slight cadence to his voice—a tiny hint of playfulness—and a flicker of a smile.

“Nothing,” I responded quickly.

He shrugged, tossed the towel aside, and settled into his part of the bed. “Great. Good night.”

“Night,” I mumbled, rolling over.

* * *

 

At some point during the night, I woke up with something warm wrapped around me. Through the groggy haze, I realized it was an arm. I turned my head a bit and realized it was Levi’s. I smiled without really knowing why and settled back to sleep, my own hand resting atop his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd as usual. If I made a mistake, please tell me! I love feedback and commentary and thank you so much for all your support! If, for some weird reason, anyone wants to talk about this fic, you can tag it with "fic: antiquaire" on Tumblr. Or just tag it "tennantstype40." Either works. uwu


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Headcanon-ish alert:** Part headcanon, part personal experience and observation. Even the toughest people have to let off steam sometimes, and I figure that Levi's the type of person who just lets it all bottle up until something explodes. And then he'll just try to make sense of it before doing what most people do and having some sort of breaking point reaction.

“Hey. Hey, Jaeger. It’s almost noon. Wake up.”

I felt someone nudging me. I moaned, pulled the covers up over my head, and rolled over. “Five more minutes.”

“No more minutes,” I recognized the voice as Levi’s. “Get up already. You’re sleeping the day away, and that means you won’t be sleepy enough to go to bed on time. Which means you won’t wake up in time to sort through the pile of shit in the filing cabinet. Besides, you’ve got one of those appointments at three. So. Wake up.” He pulled the covers away from me.

I opened my eyes and, after adjusting to the light, I saw him standing above me. “You know, you could have just asked me nicely.”

“I’ve been trying that for the past two hours and it hasn’t worked.” He leaned towards the side table, picked up a plate, and set it down beside me. “I fixed you breakfast. Mikasa said to make something healthy, so I just made some ham and eggs. That’s healthy, right? Whatever. It’s healthy enough.” He shrugged and folded his arms across his chest.

“I guess so?” I honestly didn’t know. I glanced at the plate. It seemed inviting enough. It wasn’t as elaborate as dinner—Levi was always better cooking dinner, anyhow—but it would do. I picked it up and began eating. “It’s still warm,” I commented.

“Of course it is. There’s this fucking awesome new thing they just invented. It’s called a microwave. Wow!” He rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed. His back was facing me. Then, he spoke up once more. “I’m surprised you don’t hate me yet, to be honest.”

I frowned and swallowed the large helping of scrambled eggs I’d just stuffed into my mouth. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, I’m a sarcastic piece of shit, so… Aside from that…” He ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed. “Don’t you blame me for any of this shit?”

“Not really.” I swallowed a chunk of ham. Compared to the meals Mikasa and I usually ate—the soggy, slightly out-of-date oatmeal and spoiled cereal—this was five-star quality food. “Why would I? You didn’t ask me to come downstairs.”

“Yeah, but I probably woke you up. So, wouldn’t that make me responsible for it?” Levi mumbled.

I chewed on my lip. I didn’t really understand what he was saying. People were responsible for themselves. No one else was anyone else’s responsibility. Unless, of course, they had a kid or something. But, even then, the brat was still in charge of its own wellbeing to some extent. At least, that’s how I understood it. So, then, how could he be responsible for anything I did?

“Not really?” I replied tentatively.

Levi sighed. He turned and leaned his back against the bed’s headboard. From his furrowed brow and slight frown, he seemed to be as baffled by my answer as I was by his question. After a moment of silence, he continued, “So…” He spoke slowly and seemed to choose his words so that they meant what he wanted them to mean. “I was in charge of you, right?”

“Right.” I had eaten about half of the ham by now. I resolved to work at finishing some more egg before I continued to devour the remaining meat.

“And you got hurt?”

“Yeah.”

“So, that would mean you got hurt when I was in charge of you?”

I thought about it for a moment before answering, “Yes.”

“So, it’s my fault?” Once again, he ran his fingers through his hair. He sighed and stared at the ceiling.

“No,” I countered. “I’m responsible for me. You’re responsible for you.”

Levi frowned. “But I’m in charge of you, so you’re following my orders.”

“You didn’t order me to come downstairs?” I sputtered, increasingly befuddled by his interrogation.

What the hell did he want me to say? Fuck. What was the purpose of this whole thing? Was I even supposed to be answering his questions? Or were these those weird questions that Armin used to ask all the time and then told me I wasn’t supposed to answer?

“But you came downstairs because I was making noise. And that means that I drew you downstairs.” His gaze turned towards the window. He squinted for a moment, trying to see something that I wasn’t really paying attention to, and unfolded his arms. His fingers began to absentmindedly tap against the bedcovers.

“But you didn’t tell me to—” I paused. What was I even arguing about? I changed my intended reply. “Fine. Fine! You’re responsible. Is that what you want to hear? Because that’s all you seem to want to hear.”

He looked more than a bit crestfallen. His eyes darted towards his lap. “Not really, but it’s what I think.”

I sighed. I wasn’t going to win this argument. I knew that. But I wasn’t going to let him mope around like some sad sack of shit all day. Logically, that was _my_ job. Not his. “Then why the fuck are you insisting that you are? Because you’re really not.”

“Because I feel like I am,” Levi snapped. He jumped to his feet and began pacing back and forth. There was sort of look in his eyes that I’d never seen before—a wild, panicked glint. “Every time I try to do something it just fucking falls to pieces and everyone I give a fucking damn about ends up getting hurt!” He stopped pacing, turned to face the bed’s baseboard, and kicked it.

The bed shook violently. There was a distinct crack. I wondered whether it was his foot or the bed. Judging by the lack of a limp, I assumed it was the bed.

He continued pacing in silence for a few minutes. Then, he stopped. He turned, looked at me, and quickly looked away. “Sorry,” he mumbled. “It’s been a pretty shitty few weeks. I shouldn’t bother you with my shit.”

“No, it’s fine,” I insisted.

Honestly, it wasn’t that I loved listening to people’s problems. Usually, I redirected them to Mikasa or Armin for that. This was different. I knew nearly nothing about Levi. Yet, as he told me his problems, I quickly realized he’d started to show me a bit of his past. And it was exciting. It was something new to learn. And, again, I was never really all that excited about learning, but there were some things I wanted to figure out. There were things I wanted to know. Not out of necessity, but out of sheer curiosity. I’d started learning something about one of those things. I couldn’t let it stop there. If I let it stop there, I would never hear anything about it again.

“No, it’s not.” He punctuated his statement with a stern, solemn stare. “My past is for me to know and for you to stay out of. For everyone to stay out of.” He grabbed his coat from the hanger in the corner and made his way to the door. “I’m going for a walk.”

Before I could protest further, he was gone. I sighed and finished my meal in silence.


	23. Chapter 23

Hanji usually came in around noon, so it was quite odd when the clock struck one and she hadn’t shown up yet. I figured she was running late. After all, she had her own problems to deal with. She could have always just gotten held up.

The clock struck two. Still no sign of her.

I wandered out of the workshop and up to the front desk. Behind the desk, Levi was busy scrolling through something on the computer. He still wasn’t talking as much as usual, and he seemed to be avoiding me.

“Hey.” I spoke up.

“Hm?” He looked up. With a raised brow, he responded, “What?”

“Where’s Hanji?”

“She moved recently. Won’t be coming back to work here for a while. If ever.” He shrugged. The statement didn’t even seem to bother him.

I felt a slight itch of annoyance. How could he be so nonchalant about this? From what I’d seen, he and Hanji had been close friends. He had to have some sort of reaction other than, ‘oh, well, it happened.’ Didn’t he?

“Will you quit staring at me like that?”

I frowned. “You feeling okay?”

“Like I said,” he sighed, “Shitty few weeks.” He folded his arms across his chest and tilted backwards in his chair. His gaze settled on the overhead light at the center of his room. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I was just wondering.” I sighed and shifted my weight a bit. I let a majority of my weight fall on my right leg and the crutches.

He nodded. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even seem to be thinking of anything. He was just there. His gaze was locked on the light above him.

For the first time since I’d known Levi, I didn’t know what to say to him. Normally, words flowed between us easily. We seemed to know what to say, and even the silences between conversations felt mutual. But, this was different. This was a one-sided silence. Levi didn’t want to talk, and I couldn’t put together anything worth saying.

So, after a painful handful of minutes in the oppressive, quiet abyss which suddenly separated us, I relented. “I’ll go work on sorting the files,” I sighed.

**“Local Landmark Store Passed to New Owner”**

I sighed and looked at the newspaper article. By now, I’d sorted through half of the files. One cabinet was done. Now, I only had to finish the other cabinet. This particular clipping was the first thing in it—top drawer, at the front. It was filed under a tab labeled, “Who Cares?” I frowned and, out of a mixture of boredom and curiosity, began to read.

_“Antiquaire—the quaint little antique shop downtown—has quite a history here.”_

Boring. I skipped ahead some.

_“...a former employee, who has respectfully asked us not to publish his name, has taken over. Additionally, Miss Hanji Zoë will be taking part of the duties of the owner, as she is now owner of half of the store’s assets. Recent documents suggest that the former worker and Hanji formed a deal to split the business in half. Whether this is because the pair are close friends or if it is a budding rivalry has yet to be determined.”_

In the center of the text was a picture. I noted that it only featured Hanji, though. I shrugged it off. Levi seemed like the camera-shy type, after all. I set the article aside and continued to rifle through the papers.

More news. A vast but presumably incomplete record of receipts from up to ten years ago. Some old books. Candy wrappers. Nothing very interesting showed up until I had finished the first, second drawers.

And, honestly, the only reason I deemed my find interesting was the date. December 27, 1995. Alone, it wasn’t very extraordinary. However, it had been nestled amongst old receipts from the early 2000’s. Why, then, was it here? With Levi being as organized as he was, why would he just let this stay where it shouldn’t be?

**“Reports of Disturbances from Eibringer Estate”**

Eibringer? Eibringer. I squinted at the headline and chewed on my lip. I knew the name from somewhere. I just couldn’t figure out where. I shrugged and decided to continue under the assumption that the name would eventually ring a bell.

_“The upscale Eibringer Estate, a luxurious mansion just outside of town, is surrounded by lush gardens and lavish décor. This morning, however, it is also surrounded by police cars.”_

Was that supposed to be something scandalous?

_“The Eibringer family has a long history in our town, and they have been held as esteemed members of the socially elite for decades. But, as of early this morning, the family and its estate is under intense scrutiny stemming from several disturbing reports.”_

I glanced at the picture. The house seemed to be well-kept. It appeared clean and the landscaping was, as the article mentioned, immaculate. But, there was something odd about it. But, seeing as it was just a picture in a newspaper, I couldn’t really pinpoint what it was. I continued reading.

_“The reports are classified. However, we have been told that they were filed between the hours of midnight and 4:00AM. We have sent more journalists in to cover this story and will keep you informed as it develops.”_

I flipped the page over, hoping there was more. All I got was an outdated advertisement for some nearby electronics store. I set the paper aside and pulled out the next item. Another news story. This one was from December 28, 1995.

**“Eibringer Accused of Murder”**

Eibringer. That name. Again. Who was it?

_“Late yesterday night, the reports filed against the Eibringer family and its associated estate were leaked to the media. The complaints included those reported yesterday in addition to many more. Some of these complains were from up to three years ago.”_

_“Witnesses have reported seeing suspicious activity near the home. The earliest complaint—filed three years ago—was from a gardener claiming that a foul stench had been coming from the elderly Mrs. Eibringer’s room. The report was dismissed when Mrs. Eibringer’s son and current owner of the estate, Dennis Eibringer, tearfully announced that his mother had died of natural causes.”_

I had a first name, but I still didn’t know who I was reading about.

_“A large amount of complaints surfaced over the following years. Many of them were filed by employees at the estate. The most popular complaint was ‘strange odor.’ However, the most recent reports are much more disturbing. These complains deal with sightings of Eibringer estate vehicles dropping unidentified items into local waterways. Gunshots were also reported to have been heard from within the home.”_

The article ended there, as the rest of it had been torn away. I sighed, set the paper aside, and continued working. All the while, I searched my mind for any traces of the name.

Eibringer. Who was Eibringer? Why were these articled about Eibringer important enough to be in the filing cabinet?


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to balance the story out, now. I've got an ending planned and I have a clear path for the story in mind, but I don't want there to be some crazy abrupt ending. I'm still keeping it going at a steady pace and dropping hints at odd intervals. My goal is for the story to cover a total of one full year of Eren's life. So, yeah. Thanks for reading!

_“Attention shoppers: Great deals are everywhere!”_

_The overhead speaker was barely audible over the roar of the massive crowd. People were packed together, travelling in massive herds that seemed to only go two ways—into a store or out of it._

_“Talk to Santa! Visit Santa’s workshop at the second floor lounge!”_

_I glanced over to make sure that I hadn’t lost Levi. He was still there. I breathed a sigh of relief._

_“Happy holidays!”_

_I felt a hand grab me by the shoulder. I looked up. It was Levi. I was pulled to the right._

_“Donate gently used toys to the toy drive! Deposit boxes are outside of participating stores!”_

_Noise. People everywhere. Everything was a blur of calamitous rushing. My head throbbed. This probably wasn’t the best idea I’d ever had. I wasn’t ready._

_“See something you like? Make sure you have it by Christmas! Request first class rapid delivery at participating retailers! Free for the holidays!”_

_The announcer’s voice seemed to get more and more outlandishly excited with each declaration. It grew fake, tiresome. No one could be so damned happy about announcing menial bullshit to holiday-crazed mall shoppers. Nobody._

_“Stay safe this holiday season!”_

_I was still being pulled along. Again, I wondered why I thought this was a good idea in the first place. And, at that moment, I began to wonder what was happening. Why was I being dragged out of the store? Was something amiss?_

_“Don’t miss out on the great holiday deals!”_

_Suddenly, there was static. The crowd didn’t seem to take notice, though. Everyone was far too busy doing their own shopping. Then, a voice. A strangely familiar voice._

_“I know you’re here.”_

_Finally, the crowd seemed to pause. People looked up at the ceilings, presumably searching for the speakers. Some were confused. Others were frightened. Then, there were the handful of people who just didn’t give a damn—who kept on shopping._

_Levi stopped. I turned to glance at him, but I couldn’t get a good look at his face._

_“You can’t hide from us forever, you know. You’ll always be one of us, even if you won’t admit it.”_

_Suddenly, Levi began to move. Faster, now. He shoved through the crowd and, eventually, lost his grip on me. He obviously didn’t notice, because, if he had, I’m sure he would have turned around. But, he didn’t. I came to an abrupt halt on the floor, face down. Someone helped me up and dusted me off before hurrying off to continue shopping. It seemed that the announcement had been forgotten. No, most people were more interested in the sales._

_Suddenly, a man appeared above me. Not just any man, though. No, it was the man with the grey hair. The man who seemed to be critical of everything and everyone—whose face seemed to be perpetually displeased with the world around him. But, now, it was different. Now, he smiled at me. His teeth were yellowed and his breath smelled of cigarette smoke._

_“Levi!” I yelled._

_He pulled out a gun. He held it to my head. His finger rested on the trigger and—_

* * *

 

“Eren?”

I found myself lying in bed beside Levi. He had rolled over to face me at some point, and he seemed concerned. At least, he sounded concerned. I couldn’t really see anything in the dark. “Hm?” I muttered.

“You okay?”

I nodded. To be safe, I added a quiet, “Yeah.”

I felt a hand come to a gentle rest upon my shoulder.

“Hey, Levi?”

He sighed. He lifted his hand and rolled back over. At the same time, he positioned himself a bit closer to me. “Yeah?”

I began speaking, but what I said didn’t really make sense in my head. That type of shit happened from time to time. Mikasa used to call them my midnight ravings. I’d wake up in the middle of the night after a bad dream and start talking. I’d babble about things that no one understood or asked unusually thoughtful questions. Armin used to theorize that what I said was a continuation of my thoughts from the dream I was having. Honestly, I didn’t really know what they were. They were words. And, in this particular case, they were, “Do you ever have those dreams?”

“What dreams?” Levi tugged the covers up, closer to his chin.

“Those dreams you think are real and feel like they’re real but they’re not?”

“Yeah?” He sighed again. “What’re you getting at?”

“When you want to scream and you can’t so you just wake up and wonder if it was really a dream?”

I could hear Levi breathing. I could hear the steady thud of our heartbeats. Then, he spoke. “All the time. Now, go the fuck back to sleep. It’s not even morning yet.”

I turned the answer over a few times in my mind, though I don’t know why. At that point, I was too groggy to really think anything through. In fact, I ended up rolling over and falling back to sleep a few minutes later.


	25. December 16, 1995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the rapid-fire updates. I've been a little busy and I don't know how long downtime really lasts any more, so it seems I end up puking out a shitton of work whenever I get to write.

Six days to Christmas. Less than a week.

Levi stood in his room, alone.

Eren was working downstairs, diligently restoring a piece he’d been given as an experiment. After all, the kid showed potential. He had skill and determination. He just needed somewhere to use the skill and something to which he could apply his determination. Aside from that, with Hanji gone, there was a slowly building pile of shit that had to be restored or thrown out. And now wasn’t the time to throw things out.

Levi sighed as the thoughts tumbled chaotically through his mind.

Why Eren? Why was it the goddamn dropout he’d taken under his wing? How did the fiery-eyed teen manage to find his way to a part that he’d long since forgotten about? How did that part—that little bit of him that still said to him, “trust people, they’re not all bad”—still exist? After all this time? After all he’d seen?

He sat down on his bed and looked at the mail. Bills. Spam. And, that.

The manila envelope he’d found yesterday. It had been crammed under the door and greeted him when he opened the shop. It had no stamp. No return address. Not even a mailing address. All that adorned it were carefully printed letters—WE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE.

He’d yet to gather the courage to open it, but he knew what it was.

“My mistakes,” he thought to himself. “Everything I’ve ever done. It’s coming back.”

He closed his eyes and sighed. It would have to be opened eventually. Now was the time to do it.

With a shaking hand, he unwound the string which bound the envelope closed. He opened it and pulled forth a piece of paper. Upon the paper were digitally printed words. _You’ve got nowhere else to run. It’s about time I had fun with this._ Beneath this was a chunk of familiar handwriting in red ink.

_They trusted you and you ran. You ran like a fucking coward. Because that’s what you are. A coward. You couldn’t handle it. Couldn’t do what it took to get to the top. So you quit. You quit like the piece of worthless shit you are. And you left behind one in your haste. You left him behind, and we did everything we could to him. But you weren’t there. You never came back. He bled and screamed and died for you. And you left him. Because you’re a coward. But cowards always die. And you’ll die. You’ll die much sooner than you think. And I’m feeling generous. I’ll let you live your pathetic life knowing that you’ll die. You will meet me on the day of your own failure. I’ll see you next year._

There was no name on the paper. It didn’t need a name. Levi knew who it was from. He knew why it was in his hands at that very moment.

Dennis Eibringer.

A year.

He knew what would happen if he didn’t obey. More people would die. That was unavoidable. Unless, of course, he did what the letter said. Unless he delivered himself to that hellish place on December twenty-sixth of next year.

One year. Just a little over one year.

Then, he’d be dead.

He ran his fingers through his hair. One year. He had to make it count.

All the while, he thought, “Strange.” He stared out the window. The early rain had cleared and beams of orange-gold sunlight strained through the cloud cover. The light went through the glass panes and danced around the room. “I’ve never been afraid to die until now.”

He folded the note up and hid it in his desk drawer. Then, after doing his best to forget about what he’d read, he went back downstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poorly beta'd by me, as usual. Feel free to comment or point out errors if you see them! Thanks so much for reading. Sorry for the morbid chapter. Christmas will come up soon in the fic, though, so happy happy thoughts????


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On a more cheerful note: this chapter. Also, I really just want it to be winter. Why isn't it winter? Why can't it always be winter!?!?!?

It was strange not being at Mikasa’s for Christmas and, in a way, I missed it. I missed the idiotic silver garland she’d hang all over the house and the bells she tied to the door handles to freak me out in the morning. I missed the smell of cookies—the same cookies our mother used to bake us every Christmas morning—and the almost-needleless artificial tree we put up.

But, at the same time, it was exciting. New. Now, the aroma of pecan pie and meticulously prepared turkey wafted through the air. In place of a tiny, decaying tree, there was a live pine tree—not a large one, but not a tiny one, either. It had already been topped with a golden star, but its branches were otherwise bare. A small collection of presents were piled around its base.

“You’re awake for once?” Levi asked, smirking.

I shrugged. “I mean, why not?”

“Bit early for you, isn’t it?” He pulled a tattered cardboard box from where it was safely nestled behind the oak doors of the display shelf’s base. “No reason.”

“So, you’re talking to me again?” I asked absentmindedly.

He diverted his gaze. “Yeah, sorry about that. I was being an asshole.”

“Yeah,” I admitted.

He shrugged and opened the box. “There’s some shit cooking for breakfast. One of Mom’s recipes. French toast with baked cinnamon apples on top.”

“Did you shit that out whole or did you have to prepare it a little?” I jested.

He laughed. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of that wonderful, rare grin. “It took a little work. So, you want to help decorate the tree?”

“You didn’t do it already?”

“No.” He reached into the box and pulled out an elaborate brass ornament in the shape of a galloping horse. “When I was a kid, my parents would put breakfast in to cook and then we’d decorate the tree together. It was a pretty damned stupid thing to do, because we took it down a few days later. But it stuck with me. I keep doing it.”

He seemed happier, now. It was as if all of his troubles had been lifted. Or, in retrospect, it was more probable that he’d simply buried his problems deep within himself. At the moment, though, I was too excited to really ponder the reason—too impulsive. All I knew was that he was back to his normal self—whatever that was—and that we were on speaking basis again.

I couldn’t help but smile. And I smiled at the sentimentality of his childish traditions and the fact that he was speaking to me again. I smiled because he was smiling. “How’d you keep these with you all this time?” I asked.

“Luck,” Levi shrugged. He produced from the cardboard container another brass ornament. It was just as intricate as the one before it, but this particular one was shaped like a hot air balloon. Some parts of it had been knocked off, making the balloon appear to have holes in it.

I nodded. I watched as he placed the ornament upon one of the middle branches and reached into the box. From it, I took yet another brass ornament. This one resembled an antique car. “Are all of these the same type of ornament or is this just really weird coincidence?”

“I don’t know.” Levi shrugged. He spun a brass angel about by the golden string it would eventually hang on. “My parents had a thing for brass ornaments, apparently. Weird thing to be into, but everyone has their own shit, I guess.”

I chuckled. Then, a thought dawned on me and I said, “Happy birthday, by the way.”

He shrugged again. “Thanks. Merry Christmas. Or, you know, whatever it is you celebrate.”

* * *

 

We had breakfast—which was, by the way, fucking delicious—and followed that with unwrapping presents.

There wasn’t much. Assorted trinkets—the kind of things people give young adults when they don’t know what else to give them—were the most prominent category for me. A few diaries, some pens, a new wallet, and a pair of shoes. The gifts were shipped in from Hanji, Armin, Mikasa, and a few were from Levi.

For Levi, it was a bit sparser. He had only two presents (that I didn’t know about). One was from Erwin, the other from Hanji. From Erwin, he received an expensive-looking Rolex watch. Hanji gave him a set of assorted handkerchiefs. Then, it came time for me to give him what I had bought him.

It wasn’t much. In fact, it wasn’t all that expensive, really. Even so, I’d ended up having to ask for help. I enlisted Armin and even asked Mikasa for some help (which, surprisingly, she willingly gave). But, I thought it was fitting. I had it hidden in the chest pocket of my jacket and, after he finished unwrapping Hanji’s gift, I reached to grab it.

“Hold on,” his words interrupted me. I looked at him quizzically, and, as I looked, he pulled a box from beneath the sofa. It was small—much like the gift I intended to give to him. “Got you something else, too. I don’t know what to say, though. So… Yay? Congrats and all that shit? I don’t know. I hope you like it, though.”

I glanced at Levi and noted the slightest hint of a blush. I grinned and carefully untied the large golden bow. Then, I cautiously opened the brown wrapping paper, revealing a plain white box. I looked at it for a moment. Then, I opened it.

Inside, nestled in a bed of plush cushioning, was a small, ornate key. The embellishment on its top left grip was bent a bit, and some of it had been burned black. A golden chain went through the top, making it a necklace.

“I know it’s not much,” Levi explained. He started avoiding my gaze again. “It’s something of mine from a while ago. It meant a lot to me and I thought I could pass it on to you.”

I nodded, thoroughly puzzled by the gift.

“It was an old good luck charm of mine,” he explained. “See, it belonged to this antique chest my dad kept in his office. He used to hide all the Christmas presents in there as he got them through the year. To make sure I couldn’t get in, he wore the key around his neck.”

I nodded again.

“When they died, he had it on. I took it before they closed the coffin and kept it for myself. That’s how I figured out what was in the chest.” He shrugged. A sad, nostalgic grin briefly flashed across his face. “I had it on when I got out of a few tight spots, so I figured it was good luck. I don’t really need it any more, though, so I thought you’d get more use out of it.”

I nodded and looked at the key again. What was once a piece of damaged shit was now, for some reason, meaningful. It was something special—a piece of Levi’s past. And I couldn’t have been more excited to have it after he told me about it. Without second thought, I donned the necklace and tucked the key inside of my shirt. Then, I reached into my jacket pocket once more. I pulled out the gift and handed it to him without a word. I didn’t know what to say, really. What could I say?

He glanced at me briefly before taking off the lid, revealing a battered photo. In it, a much younger Levi sat alongside his parents. All three were smiling widely. “How the hell did you—?” he began, carefully removing the faded photograph from the box.

“I got my friend, Armin, to help. He’s a real research dork, so he managed to track down some old things from your house. Found this thing had been sold to some guy at an estate sale and bought it from him.” I responded with a proud smile.

Levi sighed. He tucked the photo into his breast pocket and put his hand on my shoulder. He pulled me in a bit and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. It was a mere peck, but it was more than enough to startle me. And it wasn’t a bad shock. No, it was a fantastic shock. An explosive, euphoric blast of warmth and comfort that suddenly ran through my veins.

“Thank you,” he mumbled.

“You’re welcome,” I murmured, still reeling in shock.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [drumsnare]

It was cold. It was so, so cold.

And it was snowing. They were big, watery flakes. Normally, you’d think they’d melt when the hit, but not these ones. No. These clung to you and soaked into the fabric of your jacket. They weighed you down until you felt like it was impossible to get back up. And, sometimes, the wind would pick up and they’d sting your face as they passed by.

Even so, I sat outside in about a half an inch of snow.

 _Carla Jaeger_.

I leaned forward and brushed away some of the snow. I used the sleeve of my jacket so that it wouldn’t soak through my glove. A large, heavy chunk fell to the ground. It landed with a dull thud. And I looked at what I had revealed—a small, simple tombstone. Normally, it was unadorned, but, today, something livened the cold stone tablet up a bit. A small wreath—probably no more than two feet in diameter—with fake holly and plastic pinecones was propped against the stone.

A loud, deep rattle echoed across the small plot of land. I looked towards its source. Over the tiny ornamental pear trees, I could see a receding eighteen-wheeler. Wispy grey smoke trailed behind it. Privacy wasn’t exactly something anyone got around here. I was used to it.

“Hey, Mom,” I whispered, drawing my right leg up so that I rest my chin on my knee. “It’s Christmas again. You really liked Christmas, didn’t you?” I felt a sad smile creeping across my face. “Do you still like Christmas?”

I thought of the few Christmases I could remember with my mother. She used to sing as she went around the house preparing. Putting the stockings up, decorating the tree. She sang. Every Christmas song imaginable. Name one, and she’d sing it. And I used to complain about it. I’d cover my ears and yell, trying to block out her voice.

Stupid. Damned stupid. That’s what I was.

I sighed.

“I’m sorry.” I closed my eyes. I forced back the tears that desperately wanted to escape.

Behind me, I heard the quiet squelching of boots as they slid through the thin layer of sloppy snow. I turned to find myself looking at Mikasa. As usual, her face told me nothing. I couldn’t tell if she was upset or disappointed or damned near anything. All I knew was that she had to be here for the same reason as me.

“Hey.” Her mouth and nose were hidden behind that ratty old scarf I’d given her when we were younger. “Didn’t think I’d find you here.”

I nodded. I returned to my former position—chin resting on my knee, arms folded across my shin—and watched as the breath from my words formed into clouds. “Didn’t think I’d find you, either.”

She stepped up and sat down beside me. “Eren?”

“Yeah?” I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t want to turn my head.

“You do know that I want you to be happy, right?”

I frowned. “Are we talking about feelings again?” I moaned.

“Not really. I’m just saying that I want you to be happy. If you’re as happy as you seem to be with Levi, then I’m fine with you staying at his place.” She wasn’t looking at me anymore. Her eyes were focused on the grave.

“I’d stay even if you weren’t,” I mumbled.

A stifled laugh. Maybe a bit of a sarcastic one, too. “I know.”

A few minutes of silence. I could hear myself breathing and felt myself shivering.

“You really like him, don’t you?”

I looked at the ground. “Yeah,” I admitted. I felt myself blush, but I didn’t care at this point. Mikasa probably knew I was without even having to look.

She nodded. I felt her put her hand on my shoulder, and it stayed there for a minute or so. Then, it lifted away. Without another word, she rose to her feet and left.

I remained as I was. I continued to stare at the stone and the letters and the snow that slowly covered it all up.

* * *

 

“Where were you?”

I looked to Levi as I entered the house. He stood at the foot of the stairs. His arms were folded across his chest and his face had the subtlest trace of annoyance written across it.

I shrugged and hung my coat up. I took off my gloves and kicked off my boots. “Nowhere in particular. Why?”

Levi sighed. “No reason.”

The sound of something skittering across the floor preceded the appearance of a familiar tricolor beagle. Bean. I’d almost forgotten about him. I gave him a gentle pat on the head before turning my attentions back to Levi. I opened my mouth to speak, but I promptly shut it.

What was I going to say?

As much fun as I’d had over the past few days, it all seemed so out of touch. Levi wasn’t usually like this. And he still hadn’t explained to me exactly what I was endangered by.

“Eren.”

I looked back at him. At the same time, I realized I had been staring at the floor. I nodded.

“Do you think that you’d be okay with…? Do you…?” He paused and lowered his own gaze. He rubbed the back of his neck. His brow furrowed more than I thought was even possible. “I…” Another pause. He massaged the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I’m sorry…”

“For what?”

Levi closed his eyes for a minute. Then, as he opened them, he breathed a long sigh. “Nothing, I forgot what I was going to say.”

I snickered and watched as he shoved his hands into his pockets and turned to walk away. “Really? That was a whole lot of shit to forget what you were going to say.”

A low snarl. He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his shoulder against the nearby wall. “How creepy would it be if I said I liked you?”

“Not creepy at all,” I shrugged, sitting down on the workbench.

“If I loved you?”

I paused and thought about it for a minute. I figured some could think it’s creepy, but I didn’t really give a damn. So, I replied, “No.”

He scuffed his foot against the floor. His toe bumped against the bottom stair a few times.

And, suddenly, I felt that feeling again. It was that warmth, and it spread through me like wildfire across a dry forest. And it took hold of me. And I let it.

I walked to Levi and put my hand on his shoulder. He turned to me and, as he did, I put my hands on his shoulders. For a moment, I looked into his eyes.

And I got a glimpse of him—a side of him I’d never seen before. A side of him that I’d never thought of before. I saw emotions that were desperately shoved into an ever-shrinking bottle. I saw happiness and disappointment and anger and regret and hopelessness. It was fantastic. Enthralling.

“Levi,” I mumbled.

He glanced into my eyes. And I like to think that he saw what I saw—that he saw the parts of me I never spoke of. Maybe he saw that little scrap of regret inside of me—the guilt of never once saying I loved my mother before she died. And perhaps he saw the hopeless thoughts I sometimes have—my fears of being useless. But, I’ll never know. Maybe he didn’t see a damned thing.

Maybe _I_ didn’t even see a damned thing, but I sure felt like I did. Because I felt all those emotions that he was having—that happiness and disappointment and all that other shit—I felt them. And I felt them all at once.

And I tilted my head slightly to the side and leaned in. Then, I stopped about an inch away from his face. My hands jerked away from his shoulders. I panicked. What was I fucking doing!? What—?

He interrupted my thought, gently took my lower lip between his lips. And, suddenly, the panic disappeared. I wrapped my arms around him and let him continue. He’d obviously done this before. I hadn’t. I might as well let someone with experience take the wheel. I was only along for the ride. And the ride was goddamn _fantastic_.


	28. Chapter 28

I woke up in bed alongside Levi. I watched as the early morning light settled, highlighting the slight lines of his face—the thin valleys which attested to his perpetual frown and the creases of his forehead from stress. In that light, his hair was almost golden brown.

I smiled.

He yawned.

I glanced at the clock. It was almost noon. It didn’t matter, though. The store was closed for the holidays. Levi cited the fact that drunkards tended to wander in this time of year. I believed it was more that he was just about as fed up with work as anyone else was that time of the year. Even so, that didn’t stop me from pestering him about it. “What happened to waking up and getting shit done?” I goaded.

“Shut up,” Levi moaned, pulling the bed sheets over my head so that my face was covered. “I’m, what? Twenty-eight. I am twenty-eight years old and you’re not even old enough to claim that you’ve graduated college. Don’t go acting all responsible around me, you piece of shit.” He sighed. As I peered at him from beneath the covers, I saw him roll onto his back.

“So, if there’s such a big age difference, shouldn’t you be worried about what happened?” I pestered.

He rolled his eyes and brought his hand out from beneath the covers just long enough to flash me the bird. “It’s not like you did anything, kid. I did most of the work, you know.” A confident smirk appeared on his face.

I shoved him playfully—pressed my hand gently against his exposed shoulder and gave it a slight push. “Shut it.”

He shrugged and stretched his hands above his head. Then, he rose to a sitting position. The same light that had illuminated his face fell upon his back, now. A handful of thin lines—more than ten, but less than twenty—ran across his back, emphasized by the fact that they were slightly darker than his natural skin tone. A few seemed to dip inwards like wrinkles. Others were merely dark spots. I took note of them and, in the back of my mind, wondered if he knew that I could see them.

“Happy New Year’s Eve, by the way,” he commented, bringing me out of my trance.

“What?” I mumbled.

He snickered. “It’s New Year’s Eve, you shit. What do you want for breakfast?” He paused, then, added, “Okay, probably more along the lines of breakfast.”

I shrugged. “Anything, I guess.”

He shrugged and grabbed his shirt from where it had been discarded last night. It hung haphazardly from the bedpost on his side. He pulled it on and followed up by retrieving his pants, which had ended up on the floor. After putting his pants on, he got out of bed.

* * *

 

We had a rather nice breakfast. It wasn’t fancy, but it wasn’t cheap shit, either. Specifically, it was carefully seasoned scrambled eggs and Italian sausage. I never knew why Levi actually bothered using specifically Italian—and, moreover, a rather specific brand of Italian—because I never really noticed a difference between his and the cheap sausage Mikasa got. I guess it was habit?

Anyhow the rest of the day was rather uneventful. Then, around ten o’clock in the evening, Levi emerged from his room in an expensive-looking suit. He had a tie on, though it wasn’t anything flashy. It was a sort of muted green—sort of a washed-out, dark forest green.

He threw me a suit similar to his—though mine had a golden tie—and sent me to his room to change.

“Get ready, Jaeger, you’re going to a street party,” he said to me, a grin threatening to appear on his normally expressionless face.

To that, I’d promptly countered, “I thought you didn’t like parties?”

And, as I expected, he responded with his own reason, “I usually don’t. Tonight’s the exception.”

I rolled my eyes and complied with his demand. I donned the suit quickly and emerged into the living room, where I was met by a nod of approval.

“Not bad,” he said, “You could actually pass for someone who doesn’t spend their free time shoving your finger up your nose for fun.”

* * *

 

We stayed at the party for a little over an hour. Levi halfheartedly socialized with a few strangers and entertained some kids with some impromptu magic tricks. But, all the while, he was thinking of something else.

Aside from this obvious preoccupation, I noticed that Levi never touched anything with alcohol. He was surrounded with champagne, liquor, beer, wine, and nearly everything else, but I never saw him with any. He seemed to either restrain himself to or just prefer soda. (Specifically, he went for root beer and Pepsi.)

After he had had his share of the social gathering, he grabbed me by the wrist. He led me through the packed crowd to an abandoned two-story shop a few blocks from home. Its windows still bore peeling advertisements for various electronics and technological products.

“What the hell are we doing here?” I mumbled, “I thought you said we were going to a party.”

“And the party got really stale really fast,” he shrugged, pulling a lock pick from his pocket. He acted as though it was something that everyone did—like everyone carried lock picks around with them. I disregarded this, though. I was too confused to think about that.

“And where’re we going?” I inquired.

“To watch the real party.” Levi smirked. A quiet click. He withdrew the lock pick and pushed open the boarded-over glass door. He gently shoved me into the dark building. “I do this every year. It’s a lot more interesting that hanging out with those stuck-up bastards at the so-called real party.” He rolled his eyes and followed me in. He pulled a small but surprisingly powerful LED flashlight from his pocket and turned it on.

The room lit up, revealing rows of decaying display shelves and some discarded movie cases. Graffiti covered the walls.

His hand grabbed my wrist again. He pulled me to the back of the store before letting go. Then, he quickly ascended a plain concrete staircase. He cast the flashlight downwards, illuminating the way for me. I could tell that the stairway was too thin for more than one person to use it at once. Then, with what I like to think was a mischievous grin—though I know it was probably a mistaken glance in the dark—he motioned for me to follow him.

I did. It took a few minutes, but not quite as long as before. I reached the top slightly out of breath but otherwise fine.

“You doing okay there?” Levi mumbled. When I looked at him, he was fiddling with the lock on the door at the top of the stairs.

“Yeah,” I answered.

A click.

Levi pushed open the door, revealing a large, flat expanse of concrete roof. A steel railing skirted the edge of the area. An old sleeping bag and a few crushed cans were scattered about. But we were the only ones there.

“So,” I mumbled. I emerged from the slight warmth of the building and into the cold. The wind was gentle, but it still packed a bitterly cold punch. “Exactly what are we supposed to be doing out here?” I took my weight off of my cane and leaned against the doorframe.

“You’ll see.” This time, I clearly saw him smirk. He checked his watch and sighed, “A few more minutes.”

I nodded skeptically. Either Levi was out of his mind or there was something I didn’t know about involved in this party.

“Hey!”

I looked towards Levi. He was sitting on the edge of the faulty air conditioner’s concrete base. He motioned for me to come closer.

“Don’t just stand there like an idiot.”

Shrugging, I wandered to where he was. I sat down beside him, taking care to stretch my left leg out straight in front of me. “So,” I muttered, unconsciously rubbing my knee, “What am I supposed to be waiting for.”

Levi rolled his eyes and checked his watch. “Shut up, you demanding shit. It’s just a few more seconds before—”

A whistling noise. A loud bang. The sky glowered green. Then, the nighttime was ablaze with red—silver, gold. Colors burst against the night sky in spectacular sparks. Trails of light twisted upwards from wherever it was that they were being fired and curved like snakes as they arced across the sky. Fireworks.

Mikasa had seen them before, but I had been sick they day she went. She talked about them from time to time—mostly around this time of the year. We watched them on television on the fourth of July. But I’d never thought they were so spectacular.

“So, what do you think?”

I turned my gaze away from the shimmering canvas of colors and looked at Levi. His face was lit by the lights in the sky—hints of blue and a gentle silver lit his face. He was smiling.

I paused. I glanced briefly at the starbursts in the sky before replying, “About what?”

Levi reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. He stuck it in his mouth and lit it. From its pulsating tip, a gentle red glow mingled with the changing colors of the lights that illuminated his features. “About this.” He shrugged. Some ash fell from the tip of his cigarette. It drifted downwards, falling into the darkness below us.

“Yeah, still not getting what you’re trying to say.”

From the sudden flare of light at the tip of the cigarette, I assumed he sighed. He rolled his eyes before locking his gaze on the fireworks display. Pinching the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger to take it from his mouth, he continued, “I have to spell goddamn everything out for you, don’t I?” A hint of a smile flashed briefly across his face. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” I answered immediately. “What does that have to do with any—?”

Levi nodded. He stuck the cigarette back into his mouth and clamped down. More ash drifted to the ground. He smiled.

All the while, the show was coming to a close. The fireworks were bursting faster. More. It grew louder and louder, culminating in a massive firestorm of color. And, as the sparks of light began to fall back to earth, I felt remarkably calm. I felt as though there might actually be more to this shitty little planet than fighting to survive. Maybe—just maybe—there was another way. An easier way. Maybe I could go through life without running constantly against the grain by myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the story as it continues. From this point on, I'm accepting suggestions for scenarios to put these two idiots in. The current date of this chapter actually moved the last one up a bit, but it's December 31 in the story at the moment. If you have suggestions or just regular feedback, I'd love if you left them here. You can also send them to [my Tumblr](tennantstype40.tumblr.com).


	29. Chapter 29

_“Somewhere, beyond the sea,_  
 _Somewhere, waiting for me,_  
 _My lover stands on golden sands_  
 _And watches the ships that go sailing…”_

The song warbled from the vintage vinyl record player we’d been trying to get rid of for the past few weeks. (We’d actually decided to keep it in the back. Levi reasoned that, if no one had claimed it by now, no one wanted it.) I listened halfheartedly from my spot in the workshop. All the while, I rubbed my hands together and inched continually closer to the radiator against the front wall.

I never was a winter person. Levi was. I wasn’t. I preferred spring and fall. The milder the weather, the better. Maybe it was because I had bad memories of winter and just generally hated the heat. Either way, it wasn’t helping my mood. I had already been foul-mouthed over the phone earlier that morning by some irate customer. Now, I was sitting and waiting for a return call from the same bastard.

_“It’s far beyond the stars,_  
 _It’s near, beyond the moon._  
 _I know without a doubt_  
 _My heart will lead me there soon….”_

I sighed and rubbed my hands together. The back room was never very warm. Levi said it was because it was positioned in such a way that air conditioning couldn’t easily reach it. Aside from that, only one radiator heated the entire space. And, yes, it was small. But concrete gets cold and stays cold without proper heating. That was one of the lessons I learned from my time with Levi. Some things were always cold, no matter how hard you tried to warm them up.

_“We’ll meet beyond the shore._  
 _We’ll kiss just as before._  
 _Happy we’ll be beyond the sea_  
 _And never again I’ll go sailing…”_

Sighing, I folded my arms across my chest. I looked at the phone and, then, at the recently polished work surface before me.

Levi was working the front of the store.

The music stopped. The record player began to let forth a series of intermittent, muted clicks as the needle looped through the groove at the end. Without much else to do, I got up and went over with the intent of finding a new record to play. I sat down by the box of old vinyl—the collection of ones that Levi deemed too good to throw away—and began to rifle through the paper sleeves.

After finding nothing of particular interest, I grabbed an odd record.

 _La Vie en Rose_. Edith Piaf. I frowned.

What the hell was this?

I dusted off the dirtied cover and squinted at the curly-haired woman on the cover. This wasn’t something I thought I’d find in the collection. No, the rest of his stash was early rock and swing music. What the hell was this for?

I scanned through the songs, but understood nothing. After all, the entire album seemed to be printed in French.

I shrugged. I might as well see what the hell was on it. After all, it could have been some sort of mix up in storing the record. I slipped the vinyl disk from its paper shell and placed it on the turntable. Then, I let it play. I started to return to the table, only to spot a piece of tattered paper that had fallen from the sleeve.

“Hm.” I picked it up and put it in my pocket. I settled back down at the table before I pulled it out and gave it a closer look.

It was notebook paper. White with thin blue lines. Between these lines lay a sea of messy, childish writing. I sat down at the table and turned on the desk lamp. Then, I studied the page.

_December 24, 1995_

_Escape tomorrow. Hope plan works. Not much time to write. They’re coming. Need to wait. Not now. Later. I will be bait._

I sighed and folded the page. Thinking of it as little more than the ramblings of a former owner’s child, I shoved it back into the vinyl sleeve and folded my arms across my chest. Tilting back in my chair, I listened to the lyrics of some foreign song.

At the time, it was a load of bullshit French. In fact, I only ever learned the real lyrics years later. But, as I listened then, one bit of that incomprehensible melody stood out.

_Et dès que je l’aperçois_  
 _Alors je sens en moi_  
 _Mon coeur qui bat._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, comments are always welcome and appreciated!


	30. December 25, 1995

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the break! School's been a bit crazy lately. Anyhow, here's a little update.

Levi found himself stuck in a place he never went to willingly—his memories.

He found himself—no more than seven years of age at the time—silently stooped over in a crawlspace. Around him, the air smelled of mold and decay. Yet, at the same time, the objects around him told stories of bygone frivolity and wealth. Faded golden goblets, fine fur coats, and old porcelain dishware. But he didn’t care about the memories of an ancient family of American aristocrats. No, he focused on something different.

“Damn kids!” The voice was familiar. Footsteps accompanied it, and they were drawing nearer. Nearer. Seconds until they arrived. A mere breath.

Levi saw his chance. He kicked out the bronze cage which covered the entrance to the crawlspace and rushed out. Almost immediately, he was lifted into the air by the collar of his shirt. He was face-to-face with a man who reeked of alcohol.

This man was his “Uncle” Kitts. In reality, he was a friend of a family friend who falsified proof to claim Levi as his own after the death of his parents. But, the younger Levi didn’t know that. No, at the time, all he knew was that this man had charmed him into feeling some sort of loyalty towards him for two months before suddenly throwing him headfirst into hell.

“Trying to get out again?” the man murmured, his words slurred. His bloodshot eyes were locked on Levi. “Pathetic worthless shit, you are. Don’t do a damned thing for me, do you?”

Levi shook his head. He tried to move enough to free himself. His efforts were rewarded with a slap to the face. “Let me go!” he demanded.

The man did as he was told.

Levi fell to the floor and promptly scurried off. He slipped back into the crawlspace—the only safe zone he knew of—and watched as the dirty leather boots stomped off.

He found himself thinking to the days before this. He brought his knees to his chest and leaned against the wall. He began to cry.

The quiet sound of receding footsteps stopped. Then, it was replaced by the sound of them approaching. Louder. Louder. Thunderous.

A hand reached into the crawlspace and grabbed his arm. He was pulled from the space and promptly found that he was dangling above the ground. He was eye-to-eye with Kitts once more. He didn’t dare speak.

“Don’t you dare cry, you sorry shit. If you weren’t here, you’d be in some foster home now, and you wouldn’t like that much. So be fucking grateful I brought your useless ass here!” Each word was punctuated by a burst of alcohol-scented breath.

He was dropped. This time, he landed on his back. Again, he scurried back into the crawlspace.

* * *

 

“Damn.”

Levi sat up in bed, holding his head in his hands. He sighed and glanced to his left.

Eren was still there. His chest still rose and fell at a steady, soothing, rhythmic pace. His hair still rustled ever so slightly with every breath. He was unaware—as he should be. He didn’t need to be bothered by this.

Sighing, Levi grabbed his dark blue robe. He carefully rose from the bed, donned the robe, and wandered into the kitchen. He brewed himself a cup of mint tea and wandered downstairs. Into the workshop. Setting aside his cup, he searched through the vinyl collection he’d amassed. From the stack, he pulled out the only foreign album he had.

Edith Piaf.

He’d never really liked her. But his father had. So, eventually, he ended up liking the music.

He folded his arms across his chest and sighed.

Then, a realization hit him.

He’d hidden a journal entry in there some time ago. No one had touched it since then—at least, he was pretty sure no one had touched it. So, then, where was it?


	31. Chapter 31

“Fatality!” announced the television.

I stared at the screen. Then, I looked to a cocky-looking Levi. A smirk was spread across his face. I sighed. “You could at least play as someone other than Sub-Zero,” I mumbled.

“Not my problem,” Levi snickered. He reached for Bean, who was curled up to his left, and scratched behind his ears. “Not the dog’s, either. But whatever. You tired of getting your ass kicked or do you think this is hot? Want to keep going?”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll beat you eventually.”

As much as I’d come to like him, he still annoyed me at times. Natural, I guess. No two people can always be on the same page.

“Fair enough.” He shrugged and restarted the game.

Seconds later, my character’s spine was ripped from their body. Their body was frozen and subsequently smashed to bits with the disembodied spine.

“WELL GODDAMMIT!” I yelled, throwing my controller on the ground. “You picked the game, you know. You knew you’d win.”

“Of course I did, you lovely bastard. What else did you think would happen?” He folded his arms and grinned. “Fine, then. Pick your own game. I’ll play it.”

I nodded and rummaged through the cabinet. Most of the games were pretty old. Hell, most of them weren’t even familiar to me. Either that or they were the first of many entries into some well-known series. “You couldn’t have bothered getting new games in the past ten years?” I grumbled.

“Why would I?” Levi sighed. “These are perfectly fine. Pick your damned game and stop whining.”

“Fine!” I went to grab a game, only to be interrupted by the sound of the doorbell ringing.

Levi sighed and rolled his eyes. “It’s midnight. Who the hell could be visiting n—” He paused. “Oh goddammit.”

He purposefully strode towards the safe hidden behind the painting of a countryside. He slid the picture aside and rapidly input the combination. In one swift movement, he opened the door and grabbed the pistol he kept hidden there. “Don’t get any bright ideas this time, you little shit. I’m sure the hospital has had enough of you.” He offered me a cursory glance before walking off, loading the gun as he went.

I waited.

All the while, I wondered.

Who exactly was Levi expecting? The same person from before? Someone else?

A single shot. I reacted. I staggered to my feet and stumbled down the stairs. “Levi!” I yelled.

“Back off, you damned idiot!” he shot back.

I shoved open the door leading from the workshop to the store. I entered the room. Shards of glass littered the floor. They glittered in the dim light of the streetlamps, but I didn’t see any blood.

“What the hell is going on!?”

It hung in the air for only a second.

“Nothing.” Levi shrugged and unloaded his gun. He stuck the cartridge in his pocket and turned towards me. “Just another asshole trying to break into the store.” He offered me a faint glimpse of an oddly insincere smile.

“But—” I began to protest.

“Nothing,” he snapped.

I sighed and folded my arms across my chest. “Fine. Whatever!”

He rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut. “Go in the back and grab some plywood.”

“We have plywood?” I mumbled.

Levi shrugged. He spoke without looking at me. “In the cabinet at the back. Bottom drawer. Just grab some. And bring the toolbox while you’re at it.”

I nodded and followed his orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I'm thrilled that so many people enjoy the story. I'm sorry for the recent sporadic updates, but I've been very busy. Aside from that, I've been doctoring the end of the story. If you have any suggestions for what should happen in the meantime—something you'd like Levi and Eren to do—feel free to comment. Feedback is always appreciated!
> 
> [29/11/2014] UPDATE: I'm probably wrapping this up soon. There isn't really much left to cover, here, so there'll probably be a bit of time-jumping.


	32. Chapter 32

Valentine’s Day.

I’d never really been a huge fan of it. Hell, I thought it was pretty damned annoying. It was just another excuse for people to sell you shit.

And, apparently, Levi felt the same way.

So, we both spent the day—or, at the very least, started the day—working like usual. He worked at his workbench. I worked at mine. He smoked cigarettes until the burning tips almost touched his lips. I was keeping track of how many he smoked; by now, he was on his second pack.

What was he thinking?

He’d been preoccupied for the past few weeks. Sure, he acted normally around customers and Hanji. Backstage, though, he just seemed to wander through each day. He’d yet to take down the plywood or fix the windows. ‘Money problems,’ he claimed. I didn’t believe him. How could it be money problems when we were doing better than ever?

I sighed. I pushed my thoughts aside and began polishing a small table clock I’d been given earlier in the week.

“Eren.”

I stopped and looked at Levi.

His gaze was directed towards the ceiling. He rolled his cigarette around between his teeth. Bits of smoldering tobacco and paper fell from the tip, though he ignored them.

“You ever get that feeling that you’ve done something wrong?” he spoke out of the side of his mouth, making sure to keep his cigarette in his mouth.

“Yeah,” I shrugged. “Why?”

He paused. For a brief moment, he looked me in the eye. “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Been thinking about a whole lot of bullshit lately.”

I nodded. “I know how that feels,” I lied. (I never gave deep thought to my life or actions. At least, not back then.)

“Hm,” he nodded slowly. In a way, it was funny—he looked like an old man just realizing what the internet was. “Yeah… Hey, I… I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah?”

A heavy sigh. He ran his fingers through his hair and stared at his dirtied black loafers for a few minutes. Finally, he continued. “You need to leave.”

My heart dropped. If you heart could drop out of your ass, then mine would have been rolling around on the floor. Still, I managed to force out a simple, “Why?”

“Personal problems.” Levi continued to avoid my gaze.

“You can’t talk about it?”

Levi smirked. “Like you’d actually listen, eh, Jaeger?”

I shrugged. I was too confused to get indignant about his little jab. “I would, though.”

The smirk faded. A large cloud of smoke bellowed from Levi’s partly opened mouth. “I’ve already gotten you Into enough shit. I—”

The distant wailing of police sirens approaching interrupted Levi. He remained silent as they got closer—as they wailed at a constant level and as the front door was broken through and as a team of officers broke through the door to the workshop. He remained silent as, without warning, they grabbed him and forced him to the ground.

“Levi Ackerman?” one of the officers growled.

For the first time since the sudden interruption, Levi spoke. He answered quietly. “Yes.”

“You’re under arrest for the murder of Boris Feulner and the attempted murder of Eren Jaeger—”

“But I _am_ Eren Jaeger!” I protested. My plea went unnoticed.

“Okay.” Levi’s gaze was locked on the ground. His cigarette was burning faster than before.

“But you didn’t—” I continued to try and protest as another officer cuffed me.

“Hey!” Levi’s sudden reaction startled everyone in the room. His sudden burst of energy focused into a single instant of spontaneous and instinctual gut reaction. “Let him go!” He charged at the officer restraining him, ramming his shoulder into the officer’s chest. “He’s not involved in—” A quick kick to the gut and a well-aimed punch to the head silenced him. His cigarette dropped from his mouth, where it was trampled by another officer.

By now, I was confused and disoriented.

Voices whirled around me but I didn’t pay attention to what they said. Scenery flashed past me as I was led to a separate cop car and taken to the police headquarters. Levi’s face faded from view as he was dragged down the hallway to a prison cell. People gathered around me and talked to and about me. I was given some papers and then driven back to Levi’s now empty home. Without thinking, I wandered upstairs and crawled into bed.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the end of [this fic] as we know it. I'm wrapping this up. As promised at some point. Action scenes and whatever the fuck else I come up with from here on out. Also, the chapters may start switching around between viewpoints from time to time. I'll but a horizontal rule between viewpoint switches, though. Thanks for sticking with this fic for this long. I don't know how you all did it.

I hadn’t eaten for the past two days. I hadn’t really slept, either.

The store had been closed since Levi was arrested. Hanji had returned briefly to check on me before leaving to try and find out more about whatever the hell was happening.

At that point, I still only knew a few things myself.

First: Levi had been arrested and charged with my attempted murder. An anonymous tip led to the store break-in being seen as a staged event under the assumption that Levi was the shooter. He was being held in the prison, which was located near my old house—where I lived with Mikasa and Armin—and here were no chances of release for anything less than a massive amount of bail.

Second: Mikasa had visited Levi. She was allowed to talk to him so long as he remained restrained and had only ten minutes with him. Throughout the period—despite knowing that the story was wrong—Levi maintained that he was guilty.

Third: In the commotion of the moment, Bean escaped. He hasn’t been seen since. His tracking chip was disabled sometime between Saturday morning and Sunday evening—the day of the arrest to the end of the next day. Levi later received the collar in a box, according to what Mikasa heard from him.

Aside from those three things, I was in the dark. At the same time, though, in the daze cast over the past two days, I found and instinctively gathered crumpled bits of newspapers and diaries throughout the house. I don’t know why I did it—thinking back, it was probably just to give myself something to do.

In all, there were twelve articles. All of them were tied to the Eibringer family. From them, I gathered that the family was as rich as they were morally questionable. They earned their money in underhanded ways and led a longstanding kidnapping ring to fund their exploits. The latter fact—that they kidnapped children—was revealed only after the body of ten year old Erd Jinn was fished from a river. Accompanying this particular article was an array of disturbingly descriptive recounts of the injuries coroners found on the body. This section of text seemed to have been covered by dense pan markings at some point, probably to censor them from sight.

Since the revelation of these facts—mainly the connection of the murder to the family—the main head of the ring was arrested, though he was released on good behavior two years later.

Near the scene of the arrest I also found a scrap of paper with two addresses scrawled on it. The first was ours—where Levi and I had been. I linked the second to the Eibringer’s estate.

Now, on day three, the haze of shock had mostly subsided. The feelings of helplessness and confusion had turned to anger and a resolve to find the cause of this sudden interruption.

By three o’clock in the afternoon, I arrived at the jail Levi was being kept in. I requested visitation and—much like Mikasa—was allowed ten minutes only.

Guards led me to the visitation room. I was seated in an uncomfortable plastic chair in front of a wall of bulletproof glass. Above me was a ceiling of plain grey. Its only adornment was a flickering fluorescent light.

After two minutes, he was brought in by guards.

While I’m sure I didn’t look very attractive—after all, I hadn’t eaten, slept, or bathed for the past two days—he definitely wasn’t much to look at. If anything, I didn’t want to look at him. A large scab replaced where his bottom lip had been split. The blood from his arrest had been cleaned away, but blood from new wounds had since dried. A gash lay just above his right brow and his cheeks bored a few scattered cuts. His hair was matted together—I didn’t really what to know why, though.

Even so, when he saw me, he managed to crack a brief smile. “How’d you get here?” he mumbled.

“I got on the bus. What’re they going to do?” I responded.

He shrugged and looked away from me. He seemed to be studying the plain concrete walls around us. “The charges were dropped this morning. Don’t know why.”

“So you’re out free?”

“No. And you need to leave.”

“But you—”

“You need to leave.”

“Are you coming back home?” I mumbled.

“No.”

“When will you?”

“Never.”

“Why won’t you?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

I opened my mouth to yell at him—to tell him he was being stupid and that I’d be ready to deal with any problems he had. But, I was interrupted by a guard on Levi’s side of the window.

“You’re leaving. Your ride is waiting out back.” The guard grabbed Levi by his hair, pulled him into a standing position, and pushed him towards the cell’s exit. Then, looking at me, he said, “Leave now, kid. Unless you want to die. Leave.”

As Levi was led out, another guard came in and forced me to leave the room. I was then shown to the exit.

By now, I was fully aware of the fact that my help wasn’t wanted. For some reason, Levi didn’t want me to interfere in whatever was about to happen. Even so, I couldn’t make myself give in. If I let him go, I’d regret it forever.

So, once the door closed behind me, I wandered around to the back of the building. There, I spotted a brief glimpse of an expensive-looking but rather run-down car. Through the cracked back window, I saw a fleeting outline of Levi. I noted the license plate.

Then, I returned home. There, I immediately decided that I was going to do whatever it took. I prepared myself and gathered all the information and tools I could. I contacted Mikasa and—although I got the machine—I apologized for whatever was going to happen. After all of this, I called Hanji one last time and told her the license plate number. She confirmed my suspicion—the car belonged to whoever the hell the Eibringers were.


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for violence on the last few chapter(s).

I only slept for a few hours. At the most, I got three hours. I’d say it was more around one or two, though. Either way, I was outside of the run-down Eibringer estate mansion by three the next morning. I’d borrowed one of the bikes the store stocked and rode it for at least another two hours to get there.

It was still dark, but the lights of the mansion’s grounds were enough to lead me down the path to the door. I had expected to encounter resistance, but I went down the cobblestone walkway easy enough. The hardest part was following it as it meandered through the dilapidated gardens. Hell, the easiest part was getting inside. From there, I ended up facing the resistance I’d expected.

At least, some of it. I had really expected a bunch of guards but, judging by the grounds, I guess the family had since run out of the cash to hire them. So, instead, I found myself under the assault of only one man—the man from the night I realized that living with Levi wouldn’t be anything near an ordinary living arrangement. The man who’d attacked me and whom I suspected of baiting the police to arrest Levi.

I only had enough time to register his identity, though. He attacked by coming from behind the door as I entered. Wielding a dull, rusted decorative knife, he rushed at me. The blade slipped into my exposed right side. Then, before I could retaliate, he landed a powerful, painful jab to my exposed right shoulder. As I registered the pain, he drew a knife and put it to my throat.

At this distance, I could smell his breath. It reeked of the same alcohol that had soiled the car. I could see his bloodshot eyes and the long, thin scar which vertically down the near-center of his face…

From here, he led me to a room that smelled of blood. The walls were adorned with peeling yellow paper and a dirty mattress was propped up in the far northeastern corner. In the center of the room was Levi.

By now, he was in even rougher shape than before. He was covered in bruises and superficial cuts. Blood dripped from his nose. If he wasn’t unconscious, then I was sure he was damn near it.

Behind where Levi sat, slumped over and half-conscious, was a man with a greying shaggy beard. As Boris let me go and departed silently from the room, he introduced himself. “How nice of you to join us, Eren. That is your name, right?”

Having recovered from the initial shock of being forced into a room at the point of a knife, I spat at him, “Why should it matter to you?”

The man, in turn, smirked. He stepped forward until I could smell the tobacco scent which radiated from his tattered overcoat. He looked at me—scanning me from top to bottom—before kicking my shin. Specifically, he hit the center of my left shin.

I fell to my knees. At the same time, a stabbing pain ran up my spine from my left knee. As I was doubled over on the faded wooden floor, I heard a voice.

“Leave him out of this, you useless piece of shit!”

It was Levi. As I looked up, I saw him as aware as I had always known him to be. Whatever had been causing him to be as he was when I entered—near the brink of being unconscious—was gone. I met his gaze.

“Get out of here, you bastard!” he snarled.

“Shut up.” Denis’ boot reappeared in my field of vision. It slammed into Levi’s stomach.

Levi, however, didn’t react. He stumbled to his feet and lunged. He and Denis slammed to the ground. The room shook. A loud bang rang out.

A gunshot. The bullet missed and shattered the overhead chandelier. The glass fell across the entire room. Some of the larger bits dug into my back. I bit my lip and ignored their stings as I hauled myself back onto my feet.

Meanwhile, Levi wrestled with Eibringer. His attentions were focused on wrestling the pistol away from him. My attentions were focused on getting up to help him.

Another bang.

This shot grazed past my right cheek. At the same time, I realized the kick was enough to break the main support in my leg. I pulled it off—ripping off the straps in the process-and threw it aside. There wasn’t much it was useful for at that point, anyhow.

“Why didn’t you just do what I told you to?” Levi snarled through gritted teeth.

I made my way towards the main fray. “Why would I?”

“Because I fucking told you to!” As he finished yelling this, Levi was thrown across the room. He slammed against the far wall and fell to the floor. Even so, I managed to get back onto his feet.

As this happened, I noticed that Eibringer had dropped the pistol to throw off Levi. I snatched it up just as he reached for it and, without thinking, pointed it at his head. I pulled the trigger and, as I did, I noticed something. The bang of my gun wasn’t the only sound in the room. Rather, the room was filled with the roar of two near-simultaneous shots. And, accompanying this noise, was the seemingly slow-motion reappearance of Boris Feulner.


	35. Chapter 35

_Thud_.

Three shots. Three bodies drop. In the middle of getting up to fight, Eibringer dropped. Stepping into the room, Feulner dropped. I was less concerned about those two, though, as a third person dropped.

“Levi!”

I staggered to Levi on my hands and knees. As I neared, I felt something warm flowing between my fingers and through the shallow grooves of my palms. I didn’t think about it. I just kept going. “Levi…”

I arrived just second after he fell. I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him up so that he rested against my shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I briefly noted movement. I didn’t pay it much attention, though, I was too focused on Levi.

“You stubborn fuck,” he mumbled. “You couldn’t just keep your damned nose out of my business…” His breathing grew heavier. His blood began to soak through my jacket and pants.

“Why would I? I…” For a moment, I paused. I took a deep breath and continued, “I love you. Was I supposed to let you—?”

He coughed. A streak of red began to work its way down his chin. “Because. I fucking told you to. You didn’t have to do this.”

I shook my head. I didn’t have much more to say. I pressed my lips to his and he returned the favor. I felt his hand run through my hair. Sure, there was blood, but I ignored it. For a brief moment, I let myself think that everything was going to work out.

“I guess I love you, too, you bastard,” he mumbled after withdrawing from the embrace. A smile crept across his face. “Too bad. We didn’t get enough time, did we?”

I shook my head. “What do you mean by that?” I grumbled, though I knew what he meant. I knew what was happening. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it.

“You’re too damned stubborn for your own good, you know,” he gasped. The pain was starting to register. He bit his lip. He tried to force a smile. He coughed. His breathing was getting shallower. He was growing colder. He seemed to be growing confused. “Please…” he muttered, “Don’t leave.” His hands reached out and grabbed the front of my shirt before abruptly letting go. “I… I hate living alone, you know.”

“Levi…” I muttered, gently grabbing his hand.

“You won’t leave, right?” He stared at me.

“No,” I whispered.

“It hurts.”

“Think about something else.”

He paused for a moment. I thought he was gone until he let out a loud, rattling breath. “The store…”

“What about the store?”

“It’s yours.” He shuddered.

I nodded.

His grip was getting looser. His eyes were closing. He seemed to be muttering incoherent strings of words—last thoughts, maybe.

Either way, I knew it was about to happen. I knew I was watching him die. I could feel the tears rolling down my cheeks.

And, then, for a brief second, his eyes snapped open. He looked straight at me and smiled. “It’s been one hell of a ride, hasn’t it?” he mumbled.

His hand dropped from mine. He was cold and silent.

Without thinking, I gently laid him on the floor and wiped his face as clean as I could with a clean edge of my shirt sleeve. Then, I grabbed the pistol that had fallen from Eibringer’s grasp and fired it at his dead body. One. Twice. I lost count. I shot until the gun was out of rounds and until my hands were shaking too much to hold the gun. Then, I yelled. I cursed and spat defamation at the corpse.

As I yelled, I felt a hand gently grab my shoulder. I paused and looked up to find Mikasa standing above me.

She knelt down beside me and wrapped her arm around me so that her shoulder supported me. “The police are coming,” she said, “Paramedics will be here soon. Are you okay waiting here?”

I nodded.

We sat down by Levi. She let me rest against her shoulder and I let myself run my fingers through Levi’s hair. I listened to the approaching sirens.

I had to make him look more presentable. That was my main thought. I gently lifted him up once more and gently pressed his eyes closed. I took off my jacket and wrapped it around him. I tied his shoes and tried my best to fix his hair and, as I worked to fix his hair, the police arrived.

Hands grabbed me and dragged me away from him. I pulled against them, but it didn’t do much. I was taken out of the room. But I watched him. I stared at him until I couldn’t see him any more—until we turned a corner and the wall hid him from view.

Then, to occupy my mind for some time, I rolled his last words over in my mind. “It’s been one hell of a ride, hasn’t it?” I couldn’t help but smile a little. Maybe it was confusion, but it seemed like he’d been lucid enough to make one last snide, smartass comment. And it was just like him. And it was true. It really had been one hell of a ride…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically it's another day so I can update and still consider this updating on a different day so I don't feel bad for dumping the entire ending at once. Please hold because the Epilogue is coming and if you read this in a few seconds it'll be up.


	36. Epilogue: Ten Years Later

Armin and Mikasa moved into the shop with me. Armin took up Levi’s old specialty of refurbishing books. Mikasa took up collecting spare parts and repairing furniture. Hanji continued working there and, after six months, presented me with another puppy. I named it Bean.

The store thrived. I admit it was for all the wrong reasons—the news that the owner was shot dead in the old Eibringer mansion amidst a three-way homicide was apparently something that attracted a huge morbid crowd. For the first year I refused to work out front because people asked to see the body—something that was buried in the cemetery and sensibly not mummified to be displayed in the store. (I’m still not sure where that rumor came from.)

Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to take his name off the front window. It still says that it’s owned by him. I just added my own name.

After a while I got back into the habit of manning the front desk. I became some sort of equally morbid urban legend due to the fact that I was one of two people who didn’t die in the Eibringer mansion. I quickly got used to local kids spying on the store. I started stocking candies out front of keep them satisfied and talked to them when I needed to. For the most part, though, Armin takes care of the kids.

I took Levi’s room. I kept it just as he had left it—his pictures are still up and the furniture is still the same. I don’t ever intend on changing it.

By the seventh year, Armin had moved out and married. Mikasa stayed behind the help out, though.

And maybe it’s more a habit at this point, but I haven’t actually moved on too much. Every Monday, I visit the cemetery. I walk the five blocks to the downtown plot and wander through the winding path to Levi.

On this particular day, I find myself sitting beside him and watching the bi-weekly summer fireworks. I sip at lemonade and take an occasional bite of the cookies Mikasa sent me out with. From time to time, I’d catch the eye of a passerby who, for the most part, looked at me like I was insane and reached out of the cemetery. Not that it mattered much to me.

He was there. At the very last, it felt like it. When I closed my eyes and saw only the different colors flash behind my eyelids, I could feel him. I could feel his arm around me and the warmth of his breath. I could smell his odd scent of old books and cigarettes.

Beneath the booms of the fireworks, I whispered to him. I told him of the store’s progress and of the fact that Bean had managed to fuck one of the neighbor’s dogs and that I now had to find homes for an assload of puppies. I told him of my dreams for the future of the shop. I told him that I loved him and, then, as the firework fizzled out, I left a bouquet of a dozen red roses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ten is a nice number and this is a pretty similar ending to my Homestuck fic if you know what I mean but I think it wraps up well and shows that Eren's grown into sort of emotional maturity that Eren's so.... Thanks for reading this long! Sorry for the ending. Admittedly, this has been the planned ending since the twentieth chapter.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and feedback are always welcome! If you have any suggestions, those are cool, too.


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